First, Lamar Jackson and Odell Beckham Jr. loved dinner at Prime 112, an upscale steakhouse in Miami Seashore. Then they headed a few miles up the highway to fashionable nightclub LIV, the place a waitress might be seen holding up a lighted signal that learn “Welcome Lamar & OBJ.”
The Ravens quarterback and his latest broad receiver have been already pals earlier than they bonded over Beckham’s one-year deal reportedly value $15 million assured that was introduced Easter Sunday. Jackson has but to signal the $32.4 million nonexclusive franchise tag the Ravens positioned on him final month 5 days after he requested to be traded, however that demand, for now, appears to have fizzled like a three-day-old bottle of champagne.
One one who is aware of Beckham even higher than Jackson, although, is Nelson Stewart, his highschool coach from Isidore Newman in New Orleans. It’s the place Peyton and Eli Manning as soon as starred, their nephew and prized recruit Arch Manning performed quarterback this previous season and the place Beckham as soon as tormented secondaries earlier than happening to LSU and changing into the twelfth total choose of the 2014 draft by the New York Giants.
It’s been greater than a decade since Beckham’s Newman days, however the coach and participant stay shut, speaking usually. The final time the 2 spoke was just a few weeks in the past — Stewart needed to provide Beckham house as he continued his free agent course of — however the outdated coach was “thrilled” to see him find yourself with the Ravens. He additionally stated he feels it’s a vacation spot Beckham wouldn't have picked until he knew that Jackson can be his quarterback.
“The most important factor for me has all the time been match,” Stewart advised The Baltimore Solar. “For him to overlook a 12 months is an enormous deal; it was about getting himself [healthy] and never speeding [his decision].
“Baltimore’s a fantastic group, they've a fantastic younger quarterback and he has a very strong rapport with [new offensive coordinator] Todd Monken. He needed to go to a company that valued him [salary-wise], however he’s a winner and so they’re a perennial contender. That issues.”
It has been 14 months since Beckham final performed in a recreation, that being Tremendous Bowl 56 in February 2022 with the Los Angeles Rams when he caught two passes for 52 yards and a landing earlier than struggling his second profession torn ACL in his left knee. He gained a hoop, however the value was steep. Beckham missed all of final season as he rehabilitated, then launched into a monthslong free agent tour that just about included a go to with the New York Jets on Sunday night time earlier than the Ravens swooped in to snag the two-time All-Professional and three-time Professional Bowl choice from the clutches of the Large Apple and doubtlessly star quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
The deal, which reportedly contains a further $3 million in incentives to stretch the full to $18 million, makes Beckham the very best paid receiver of the NFL free agent market this offseason, a transfer uncharacteristic for the bargain-hunting Ravens that offers the workforce its greatest star on the place since Steve Smith Sr. Nevertheless it additionally comes with questions, particularly in regards to the sturdiness and influence of a participant who's coming off a second main knee damage, will flip 31 on Nov. 5 and hasn’t had a 1,000-yard season since 2019.
Nonetheless, there are causes to be optimistic, about not simply the elevated probability that Beckham’s resolution to return to Baltimore may also assist preserve the 2019 NFL Most Priceless Participant on the town for not less than one other 12 months, however of the sort of duo they will kind due to Jackson’s dynamic skills and Beckham’s high-level route working, blocking and information.
“He’s the toughest employee I’ve ever been round,” stated Stewart, who has additionally lengthy been concerned within the Manning Passing Academy, the place the highest highschool and school quarterbacks, together with Jackson, have come by way of for greater than 20 years. “He’s greater and quicker and stronger than he has been in years.”
However Beckham additionally comes with baggage. The controversies he has been engulfed in differ, however they created one thing of a popularity.
A season after being named 2014 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Yr, Beckham was suspended in December 2015 for a recreation after an intentional helmet-to-helmet hit on Carolina Panthers cornerback Josh Norman following a collection of non-public foul penalties between the 2. In January 2017, there was the notorious photograph of Beckham and a handful of Giants teammates partying in Miami per week earlier than a playoff recreation towards the Inexperienced Bay Packers they went on to lose. In March 2018, a viral video confirmed Beckham in Paris with a mannequin and what seemed to be a white substance, although, based on ESPN, a non-public investigator employed by a workforce enthusiastic about buying the star discovered nothing of concern.
In 2019, Beckham and present Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey received right into a battle throughout a Week 4 matchup. 4 months later, after LSU gained the nationwide championship, Beckham was seen handing out money to gamers on the sphere following the sport, reportedly incomes him a two-year ban from the varsity’s services. Then in November 2021, when Beckham was a member of the Cleveland Browns, his father posted a video on social media of quarterback Baker Mayfield lacking or not throwing to his son throughout video games.
And in November, bodycam footage confirmed Beckham being requested to depart an American Airways aircraft in Miami as a result of folks suspected he was ailing. He refused and ultimately was escorted off the flight to Los Angeles after getting right into a verbal argument with one man.
But, lots of Beckham’s colleagues over time have spoken about him as being a very good teammate, one thing that might have a major influence on an in any other case younger receivers room. It’s a sentiment Stewart agrees with going again to Beckham’s highschool days, by way of school and into the NFL.
“He’s an exceptional locker room presence,” Stewart stated. “He makes your workforce higher. He leads by instance. His soccer IQ is off the charts.
“He wasn’t a highlight seeker [growing up]. In highschool, he didn’t like doing interviews. He was so younger [when he became a star in the NFL]; he was in his early 20s and didn’t know easy methods to navigate it. Each second, the cameras have been on him. Ardour can get seen a method, however he’s a man who needs to win and he’s enthusiastic about it. It issues a lot to him.”
Now that Beckham is a 30-year-old father, Stewart sees a unique facet of him. In his eyes, he’s not the identical one who the Giants stunningly shipped to Cleveland in 2019 simply months after signing him to a five-year, $90 million deal.
“When he got here into the league, all the pieces went proper, then he received damage and battled adversity,” Stewart stated. “It hardened him, having that a lot success after which going to Cleveland and being damage [and that not working out] after which tasting [success] once more with the Rams. He’s proven a capability to get off the mat. He’s extra mature now, has life perspective.”
Not misplaced in that image is teaming up with Jackson, Stewart says, but in addition reuniting with Monken, who was the Browns’ offensive coordinator in 2019 when Beckham caught 74 passes for 1,035 yards and 4 touchdowns.
Monken, who spent the previous three years because the offensive coordinator at Georgia, the place he helped the Bulldogs win two nationwide championships, is shut with Stewart. The veteran assistant has talked repeatedly about reworking the Ravens to a extra up-tempo and trendy offense since becoming a member of Baltimore earlier this 12 months, one thing that shall be made simpler with Beckham as a part of the fold.
“It was all constructive,” Stewart stated of Beckham’s relationship with Monken throughout their temporary time in Cleveland collectively. “When [Monken] got here in to satisfy with me [after going to Georgia], he stated [Beckham] was damage there. There was lots of weight on him [but] he needed to battle accidents. He was battling, however he was getting pulled in a thousand completely different instructions. He simply needed to win.”
That’s a prospect for the Ravens that's made simpler with Beckham — and, extra importantly, with Jackson. Time will inform.
Beckham could have an introductory information convention Thursday alongside coach John Harbaugh and common supervisor Eric DeCosta at 1 p.m. Stewart believes the brand new marriage is one that may work out for each side.
“He’s knowledgeable now,” Stewart stated. “He will get the large image.”
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