On Sunday night, the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 to capture their second Lombardi Trophy in franchise history. Meanwhile, the Green Bay Packers watched from home as two teams they beat during the regular season faced each other in Super Bowl LVI. However, the Rams may not have won the game or got as far as they did without an in-season pickup that the Packers also had a chance of making. Of course, we are talking about the signing of wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.
Los Angeles outbid Green Bay for Beckham Jr.’s services after the wide receiver was released following a messy breakup with the Cleveland Browns. The deal was made official three days after his release on Nov. 5.
The Packers had legitimate interest in signing the talented pass-catcher. National and beat reporters confirmed that the team was willing to offer Beckham Jr. a veteran minimum contract to finish his regular season in Green Bay. The money was just north of $500,000 plus incentives. The Rams made a slightly larger offer at $1.25 million.
“He wasn’t going to take the same or less money to go to Green Bay (over Los Angeles),” ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported.
Jay Glazer and Peter Schrager both reported that Beckham Jr. wanted to go to the Rams all along, complicating the Packers’ path to getting the receiver on the open market.
Beckham going to Los Angeles instead of Green Bay made a significant difference in the NFC playoffs.
When the Packers lost in the divisional round to the San Francisco 49ers, the offense had one of its worst performances of the season. Aaron Rodgers froze up in key moments as he tried to force the ball to his most coveted receiver in Davante Adams.
Naturally, Adams drew most of the attention from San Francisco’s defense, but that would have been much more difficult with Beckham Jr. also on the field. In the end, the Packers probably score more than 10 points and are not in a dire situation on the final drive if the 49ers are running a completely different defense.
After joining the Rams, Beckham Jr. helped take some attention away from Cooper Kupp. Kupp flourished after Beckham Jr. joined the lineup in Week 10, finishing the regular season with 71 catches for 928 receiving yards and six touchdowns over the last eight games.
Not to be dismissed, Beckham Jr. also made some noise of his own in the playoffs. He recorded his first 100-yard game since the 2019 season, on his way to 21 postseason catches, 288 receiving yards and two touchdowns, including the first touchdown in the Super Bowl.
The Packers were already going to need to perform financial gymnastics this offseason to get under the salary cap. Could they have offered Beckham Jr. more money to come to Green Bay? The team was tight against the cap for most of the season, especially after so many players went on injured reserve. How much more damage would have been done to bring in a legit No. 2 receiver by offering up a little more money? The answer is probably minimal, and Green Bay would still be in the same spot they are now but with possibly a very different end to their season.