Odell Beckham Jr. was released by the Cleveland Browns, cleared waivers, and became a free agent for the first time in his career.
Thus, the pursuit was on.
Beckham was linked mainly to top contenders, but it was the Los Angeles Rams who did enough to convince him to join them.
As it turns out, another NFL coach believed his team was close to signing the receiver.
"I would say close. The question was all along if L.A. had an opportunity that's where he was going to go. I would say [Los Angeles wasn't involved] until mid-way through the process." – Sean Payton on how close Saints were to signing Odell Beckham on @dpshow
— Andrew Perloff (@andrewperloff) November 18, 2021
New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton appeared on the Dan Patrick Show and explained how he thought his Saints were close to landing Beckham.
However, he also confirmed other reports that Beckham had his eyes on Los Angeles all along.
A City Of Stars
Beckham began his NFL career in New York City and was clearly not enjoying the slow pace of living in Cleveland.
Finally being able to choose his next destination meant he could get back into a big city and he did just that by signing with the Rams.
Sean Payton on how close the Saints were to getting Odell Beckham while on The Dan Patrick Show.
"I would say fairly close, but only he would be able to answer that."
— Chris Rosvoglou (@RosvoglouReport) November 18, 2021
It just so happens that the Rams are also legitimate Super Bowl contenders this year.
Green Bay and New Orleans were two other rumored destinations, but Beckham is in a contract year.
He likely wants to be in Los Angeles for a long time and decided to show up and try to prove he deserves a new deal with the Rams.
That, or he just really wanted to spend the remainder of winter in a nice place like Los Angeles.
Some teams have an advantage in attracting major stars based on location alone.
Cleveland already saw LeBron James skip town in favor of the bright lights of L.A.
Beckham followed in his footsteps and won’t be the last to potentially miss out on a great situation just to land in such a big town.
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