The New England Patriots elected not to claim receiver Odell Beckham Jr. The former Cleveland Browns receiver went unclaimed on waivers. He will hit free agency, where he will be free to sign with any team.
Beckham had an ugly breakup with the Browns, who released him this week after renegotiating his contract last week. Beckham was subject to waivers — but with all 32 teams passing on him, he can now sign anywhere.
New England may have interest in Beckham Jr. in free agency, even if the team didn’t place a waiver claim on him. Had the Patriots claimed him, Beckham was set to earn $7.25 million for the rest of 2021, which would have put the Patriots over the salary cap. They had just $3.1 million in cap space after a spendy offseason in free agency. Perhaps New England was hoping Beckham would hit the free agency market where it could coax him to join the group for a lesser sum. They will have no shortage of competition, however.
The Patriots have receivers Nelson Agholor, Kendrick Bourne, Jakobi Meyers and N’Keal Harry. The team added Agholor and Bourne in free agency in 2021. New England also relies upon tight ends Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith in the passing game. They both arrived in free agency this offseason.
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