OBJ Reveals Deciding Factor In Signing With Ravens

After Odell Beckham Jr.'s season ended with an injury in the Super Bowl in 2022, his tenure with the Rams did as well. After spending all of the following season as a free agent and rehabbing from a second knee injury in as many years, he would have the opportunity to pick his own destination.

Since being selected in the first round of the NFL Draft by the New York Giants in 2014, Odell Beckham Jr. has been a force in the league. At times a force on the field and still at others a force of the polarizing kind. But one thing was never questioned: his heart.

After Beckham's season ended with an injury in the Super Bowl in 2022, his tenure with the Rams did as well. After spending all of the 2022 NFL season as a free agent and rehabbing from a second knee injury in as many years, he would have the opportunity to pick his own destination. 

In early March, Beckham held a workout for interested teams to show he was finally healthy and could readily contribute to an NFL team. Representatives from the Cowboys, Bills, Giants, and Ravens were there, among others. After the workout, Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta reached out to Beckham to express interest in him joining the team from Charm City.

After his conversation with the former All-Pro receiver, DeCosta knew Beckham would be a good fit in Baltimore, and knew the chances of signing him could be increased with a phone call from team owner Steve Bisciotti. And he was right, as Beckham recently revealed how that call from Bisciotti was the driving factor in his decision to join the Ravens.

“He made me feel like somebody wants me to be here, wants me to be great, wants me to be a part of this team and this organization,” he said of Bisciotti, per ESPN's Jamison Hensley. “And at this point in my life, that's everything I need — is to be wanted — and that's pretty much the story for me.”

After his phone conversation with Bisciotti, Beckham's free-agent destination was essentially locked. “I want to be a Raven,” he texted his agent. Beckham then signed a one-year, $18 million contract with the Ravens on April 9th. He's fully healthy entering training camp, which officially kicks off on July 26th in Owings Mills, Maryland.

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