First, Lamar Jackson and Odell Beckham Jr. loved dinner at Prime 112, an upscale steakhouse in Miami Beach. Then they headed a few miles up the street to widespread nightclub LIV, the place a waitress could possibly be seen holding up a lighted signal that learn “Welcome Lamar & OBJ.”
The Ravens quarterback and his latest extensive receiver had been already associates earlier than they bonded over Beckham’s one-year deal reportedly price $15 million assured that was introduced Easter Sunday. Jackson has but to signal the $32.4 million nonexclusive franchise tag the Ravens positioned on him final month 5 days after he requested to be traded, however that demand, for now, appears to have fizzled like a three-day-old bottle of champagne.
One one who is aware of Beckham even higher than Jackson, although, is Nelson Stewart, his highschool coach from Isidore Newman in New Orleans. It’s the place Peyton and Eli Manning as soon as starred, their nephew and prized recruit Arch Manning performed quarterback this previous season and the place Beckham as soon as tormented secondaries earlier than happening to LSU and turning into the twelfth total choose of the 2014 draft by the New York Giants.
It’s been greater than a decade since Beckham’s Newman days, however the coach and participant stay shut, speaking repeatedly. The final time the 2 spoke was a number of weeks in the past — Stewart wished to offer Beckham area as he continued his free agent course of — however the previous coach was “thrilled” to see him find yourself with the Ravens. He additionally mentioned he feels it’s a vacation spot Beckham wouldn’t have picked until he knew that Jackson can be his quarterback.
“The biggest thing for me has always been fit,” Stewart informed The Baltimore Sun. “For him to overlook a 12 months is a giant deal; it was about getting himself [healthy] and never dashing [his decision].
“Baltimore’s a great organization, they have a great young quarterback and he has a really solid rapport with [new offensive coordinator] Todd Monken. He wanted to go to an organization that valued him [salary-wise], but he’s a winner and they’re a perennial contender. That matters.”
It has been 14 months since Beckham final performed in a recreation, that being Super Bowl 56 in February 2022 with the Los Angeles Rams when he caught two passes for 52 yards and a landing earlier than struggling his second profession torn ACL in his left knee. He received a hoop, however the value was steep. Beckham missed all of final season as he rehabilitated, then launched into a monthslong free agent tour that just about included a go to with the New York Jets on Sunday night time earlier than the Ravens swooped in to snag the two-time All-Pro and three-time Pro Bowl choice from the clutches of the Big Apple and doubtlessly star quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
The deal, which reportedly contains a further $3 million in incentives to stretch the full to $18 million, makes Beckham the very best paid receiver of the NFL free agent market this offseason, a transfer uncharacteristic for the bargain-hunting Ravens that offers the workforce its largest star on the place since Steve Smith Sr. But it additionally comes with questions, particularly in regards to the sturdiness and affect of a participant who’s coming off a second main knee harm, will flip 31 on Nov. 5 and hasn’t had a 1,000-yard season since 2019.
Still, there are causes to be optimistic, about not simply the elevated probability that Beckham’s determination to return to Baltimore may also assist maintain the 2019 NFL Most Valuable Player on the town for at the least one other 12 months, however of the form of duo they’ll type due to Jackson’s dynamic talents and Beckham’s high-level route operating, blocking and information.
“He’s the hardest worker I’ve ever been around,” mentioned Stewart, who has additionally lengthy been concerned within the Manning Passing Academy, the place the highest highschool and school quarterbacks, together with Jackson, have come by for greater than 20 years. “He’s bigger and faster and stronger than he has been in years.”
But Beckham additionally comes with baggage. The controversies he has been engulfed in fluctuate, however they created one thing of a popularity.
A season after being named 2014 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, Beckham was suspended in December 2015 for a recreation after an intentional helmet-to-helmet hit on Carolina Panthers cornerback Josh Norman following a sequence of non-public foul penalties between the 2. In January 2017, there was the notorious picture of Beckham and a handful of Giants teammates partying in Miami every week earlier than a playoff recreation in opposition to the Green Bay Packers they went on to lose. In March 2018, a viral video confirmed Beckham in Paris with a mannequin and what gave the impression to be a white substance, although, in line with ESPN, a non-public investigator employed by a workforce excited about buying the star discovered nothing of concern.
In 2019, Beckham and present Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey obtained right into a battle throughout a Week 4 matchup. Four months later, after LSU received the nationwide championship, Beckham was seen handing out money to gamers on the sector following the sport, reportedly incomes him a two-year ban from the college’s amenities. Then in November 2021, when Beckham was a member of the Cleveland Browns, his father posted a video on social media of quarterback Baker Mayfield lacking or not throwing to his son throughout video games.
And in November, bodycam footage confirmed Beckham being requested to depart an American Airlines airplane in Miami as a result of folks suspected he was in poor health. He refused and ultimately was escorted off the flight to Los Angeles after getting right into a verbal argument with one man.
Yet, lots of Beckham’s colleagues over time have spoken about him as being a great teammate, one thing that might have a big affect on an in any other case younger receivers room. It’s a sentiment Stewart agrees with going again to Beckham’s highschool days, by school and into the NFL.
“He’s a phenomenal locker room presence,” Stewart mentioned. “He makes your workforce higher. He leads by instance. His soccer IQ is off the charts.
“He wasn’t a spotlight seeker [growing up]. In high school, he didn’t like doing interviews. He was so young [when he became a star in the NFL]; he was in his early 20s and didn’t know how to navigate it. Every moment, the cameras were on him. Passion can get viewed one way, but he’s a guy who wants to win and he’s passionate about it. It matters so much to him.”
Now that Beckham is a 30-year-old father, Stewart sees a unique aspect of him. In his eyes, he’s not the identical one who the Giants stunningly shipped to Cleveland in 2019 simply months after signing him to a five-year, $90 million deal.
“When he came into the league, everything went right, then he got hurt and battled adversity,” Stewart mentioned. “It hardened him, having that much success and then going to Cleveland and being hurt [and that not working out] and then tasting [success] again with the Rams. He’s shown an ability to get off the mat. He’s more mature now, has life perspective.”
Not misplaced in that image is teaming up with Jackson, Stewart says, but in addition reuniting with Monken, who was the Browns’ offensive coordinator in 2019 when Beckham caught 74 passes for 1,035 yards and 4 touchdowns.
Monken, who spent the previous three years because the offensive coordinator at Georgia, the place he helped the Bulldogs win two nationwide championships, is shut with Stewart. The veteran assistant has talked repeatedly about reworking the Ravens to a extra up-tempo and fashionable offense since becoming a member of Baltimore earlier this 12 months, one thing that can be made simpler with Beckham as a part of the fold.
“It was all positive,” Stewart mentioned of Beckham’s relationship with Monken throughout their temporary time in Cleveland collectively. “When [Monken] came in to meet with me [after going to Georgia], he said [Beckham] was hurt there. There was a lot of weight on him [but] he had to battle injuries. He was battling, but he was getting pulled in a thousand different directions. He just wanted to win.”
That’s a prospect for the Ravens that’s made simpler with Beckham — and, extra importantly, with Jackson. Time will inform.
Beckham can have an introductory information convention Thursday alongside coach John Harbaugh and basic supervisor Eric DeCosta at 1 p.m. Stewart believes the brand new marriage is one that can work out for each side.
“He’s a professional now,” Stewart mentioned. “He gets the big picture.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com