After a year and change away from football, wide receiver Odell Beckham now begins his NFL comeback by returning to the team he last played for seven seasons ago.
He puts the Giants jersey back on in a much different place than when he wore it in 2018 as a perennial Pro Bowler at the height of his powers, now a 33-year-old veteran who sat out the 2025 campaign. Beckham believes his time away from the game did him some good, even if he acknowledges making New York's roster and contributing won't be a given -- a reality evident by the club signing wideouts JuJu Smith-Schuster and Braxton Berrios the same day it reunited with OBJ.
"It feels great," Beckham told reporters Wednesday of his return to the Giants. "To have a lot of time off to take a step away from the game was best for me. At a time in my life when you love something so much that it kind of became detrimental. Became bad. To take that time off and be with my son and be with family and reprioritize what was important to me, and knowing that I still love this game so much.
"I felt great being back out there. Being back in the building, on this field. Looking at this stadium. It's a pretty surreal feeling. I know I have a lot of work to do. [Head coach John Harbaugh] and I have already talked about it. I came here to earn anything. Everything in my life, nothing was given to me. I came here to earn it and work hard every day and do what's best of the team."
Beckham, originally the 12th-overall pick by the Giants in 2014, stormed onto the NFL stage by winning Offensive Rookie of the Year and making the first of three straight Pro Bowls to begin his career. He eclipsed 1,300 receiving yards in each of those seasons, but outside of a 2016 playoff run, team success didn't follow.
New York endured losing seasons in four of the five years Beckham spent there, and the relationship soured by the time the Giants traded him to the Browns in 2019. From there, Beckham took a circuitous route back to New York. Cleveland waived him midway through their third season together. Beckham then caught on with the Rams -- winning Super Bowl LVI with them but tearing his ACL in the game -- sat out 2022, spent 2023 with the Baltimore Ravens and played nine games for the Dolphins in 2024 before he and Miami agreed to part ways that December.
Beckham suiting up was far from a certainty, especially after he received a six-game suspension in October 2025 for violating the league's performance-enhancing drugs policy. Nevertheless, Beckham persisted.
"I think for me, my whole life, for better or worse, is pushing it to the limit," Beckham said. "Just the way that I had to walk away. Was just unsettling in my soul, in my spirit. It's not who I am. I have never surrendered or quit or felt like I had given up on myself or anything. It just wasn't sitting with me well. So, I have to do this. This is for myself. This is for my son. I want to lead by example. I want him to be able to see who I am. Not who I was, and just know that we never give up in our house. You go after what you believe in."
If Beckham does capitalize on his comeback, carving out a spot in a WR room that includes Malik Nabers, Darius Slayton, Calvin Austin III, Malachi Fields, Darnell Mooney, Isaiah Hodgins, Jalin Hyatt and Xavier Gipson -- plus the aforementioned Smith-Schuster and Berrios -- he has his sights set on helping the Giants in a way he couldn't during his first stint.
"Play well, win a Super Bowl. That's the best case," Beckham said. "That's what you want to do. I used to be in here looking at these banners, and all I ever wanted to do for this place was win. Everybody knows, you can write it up however you want, but I never wanted to leave here. … All I ever wanted to do was win, and that's all I want to do now."
His most important role in that endeavor could very well come as a mentor rather than a player. Nabers, a budding superstar for Big Blue as Beckham once was, had a stellar rookie season but is still working his way back from an ACL tear that cut his follow-up campaign short. Beckham went through a similar rehab, and having experienced the pitfalls of young stardom in New York can also provide plenty of off-the-field advice, which might be relevant after Nabers recently caused a stir with some public criticisms of his team's draft.
"When you go through an injury like that, for a minute it hardens you, but then it also gives you a lot of experience," Beckham said regarding Nabers. "It gives you a lot of knowledge and you get to learn a lot about yourself. Through this process, which has been a tough process, but I think he's going to come out on the other end better and I can't wait to see him back on the field. Obviously, we know what kind of player he is. However I can help him and anybody else, trust me, I know all the things to do and I know the things not to do."
So, whether it's in a mentorship role or through his contributions on the field, Beckham returns to New York with a mentality of Super Bowl or bust.
First, however, he knows he must make the squad.
