Breaking Down Beckham's Analytics, Contract, and More

Odell Beckham Jr. was a lot more active last season than any Miami Dolphins wide receiver not named Tyreek Hill or Jaylen Waddle

Odell Beckham Jr. / Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA

More fallout from the Miami Dolphins acquisition of Odell Beckham Jr.:

DIVING INTO BECKHAM'S DEAL

Beckham will make $3 million in 2024 with the potential of an additional $5.5 million through incentives.

It’s a major drop from his 2023 contract of $15 million (with incentives up to $18 million) with the Baltimore Ravens, and Sports Illustrated NFL reporter Albert Breer explored the reasoning behind the figures of the Miami contract Monday, with a league executive in the wide receiver market telling him that Beckham “has lost his burst.”

Another executive looking for receivers gives Beckham the benefit of the doubt. With Beckham turning 32 this November, Breer wrote that this particular executive from within the AFC told him, “I don’t know if I agree that [Beckham’s] lost it so much as that he’s just older, and that’s what the market says on older players.”

Beckham caught 35 passes for 565 yards and three touchdowns in 14 regular season games in 2023. He added 34 yards on four catches in two playoff games.

His 16.1 yards per catch in 2023 led the Ravens, so any burst issue didn’t negatively affect his big-play potential. In fact, to put this number to scale, Beckham’s career yards per reception is 14.0, and his highest in-season was the 16.1 from last year. He hit 15.1 yards per catch with the New York Giants in 2015, his next-highest seasonal mark.

With a strong second half of 2023, Beckham could carry that momentum into a full season from OTAs, through training camp leading into Week 1. Which would be a far cry from his time in Baltimore.

“He signed so late in Baltimore that he had to play himself back into shape. And when he did, his burst came back, and he could still do a lot of the normal OBJ stuff,” this AFC source told Breer.

So as for playing himself back into shape, that executive was on to something. In Beckham’s first seven games with the Ravens, he had 19 catches for 218 yards and one touchdown. He averaged just 11.47 yards per catch.

BECKHAM'S NUMBERS VS. 2023 DOLPHINS RECEIVERS

From Week 10 through Week 18 his yards per reception basically doubled to 21.69 per catch. He had two touchdowns in this span. Beckham hit the century mark Week 11 against the Cincinnati Bengals in a 34-20 victory. Beckham had 116 yards on four catches.

He was targeted an average of 4.5 times a game as a Raven, which is actually more than double the amount of any returning Dolphins receiver from last season.

The Dolphins wide receiver room is led by Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. Combined, they were targeted 18.1 times per game from Tua Tagovailoa in 2023. Hill saw 10.7 opportunities a game, and Waddle 7.4.

In fact, Hill and Waddle had more targets at 275 on the season than the rest of the Dolphins skill position players combined, at 274.

The third, fourth and fifth most targeted Dolphins players per game last season were not wide receivers. Running backs De’Von Achane and Salvon Ahmed were targeted 3.4 and 2.9 times a game respectively, and tight end Durham Smythe saw 2.7 targets a game.

Miami’s third-most-targeted wide receiver per game last season is no longer with the Dolphins. Cedrick Wilson Jr. averaged 2.5 looks per game last season for Miami. Braxton Berrios only averaged 2.1 targets a game and River Cracraft 1.2. Erik Ezukanma only saw one 2023 target in two games played.

Beckham’s 2023 usage for the Ravens would look rather formidable in comparison to what was produced last season from wide receivers not named Hill or Waddle.

On his weekly appearance on South Florida TV station WSVN, agent Drew Rosenhaus (who does not represent Beckham) lauded the acquisition.

“It’s a great signing for the team,” Rosenhaus said. “I’m impressed that he decided to do the deal with the $3 million base and incentives. That’s a terrific contract for the Dolphins. They couldn’t turn it down.”

Rosenhaus also explained that if Beckham’s 2024 contract incentives were met, the additional money would factor into the Dolphins’ 2025 salary cap.