Antonio Brown had been the talk of the NFL off-season until a different superstar wide receiver stepped into the limelight Tuesday evening when it was announced Odell Beckham Jr. was being traded from the New York Giants to the Cleveland Browns. The blockbuster move, first reported by Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network, will see the Browns send the 17th-overall pick from this year’s NFL Draft to the Giants, plus an additional third-round pick and starting safety Jabrill Peppers in exchange for OBJ. It’s a hefty price compared to the third- and fifth-round selections the Oakland Raiders gave up to acquire Brown from the Pittsburgh Steelers, but considering Beckham is a 26-year-old just entering the prime of his career it could end up looking like a bargain. Beckham is leaving a Giants team on a downward trajectory and joining a Browns squad that was the laughing stock of the league less than one calendar year ago. Cleveland went a combined 1-31 across the 2016 and 2017 seasons, but after general manager John Dorsey came aboard and selected quarterback Baker Mayfield No. 1 overall in 2018, overhauled the roster and fired head coach Hugh Jackson mid-season, the Browns fought to a 7-8-1 record in 2018 and remained in the playoff race until late in the regular season. All of a sudden, the team finds itself as the favourites to win their division — something that hasn’t happened since 1989 — and plenty of futures bets were placed on the Browns Tuesday. Beckham won’t be entering a completely unfamiliar situation in Cleveland. The team’s current wide receivers coach is Adam Henry, Beckham’s former WR coach in New York, but more notably Beckham is being reunited with close friend and former LSU teammate Jarvis Landry. Since they both entered the league in 2014, they’ve been among the most impressive performers at their position with Landry sitting third in total receptions, while Beckham ranks third in yards per game and touchdown receptions. With Beckham joining the burgeoning Browns, social media was predictably aflutter.<doc-sep>Share this Story: Shocker! Giants trade Odell Beckham Jr. to Browns Shocker! Giants trade Odell Beckham Jr. to Browns Photo by Seth Wenig / AP Photo / Files Article content Indeed there was fire beneath all that OBJ trade smoke. In a blockbuster trade revealed Tuesday evening, the Cleveland Browns reportedly have acquired superstar wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. from the New York Giants. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Shocker! Giants trade Odell Beckham Jr. to Browns Back to video Mike Garafolo of NFL Network broke the news shortly before 8 p.m. EDT. Numerous confirming reports soon followed. BREAKING: The #Browns have traded for #Giants WR Odell Beckham, sources say. The deal is done. I am not joking. — Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) March 12, 2019 Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Garafolo reported the deal as follows: Cleveland will send first- and third-round picks, plus safety/returner Jabrill Peppers, to New York for only Beckham in return. The 26-year-old Beckham is entering his sixth NFL season. He missed most of 2017 with a broken ankle, but otherwise has been a durable, lights-out playmaker. He has caught 44 touchdowns in 59 games, plus 390 catches overall for 5,476 yards and a scintillating 93-yards-per-game average. Beckham – who’s also famous for his impossible one-handed catches and impossibly brash bravado – will form one of the NFL’s top receiver duos in Cleveland with the speedy Jarvis Landry. Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield, last year’s No. 1 overall draft pick, could hardly have a better situation entering his second pro season. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content With all the talent the club has been amassing the past couple of years, after all those years of misery, and unconvincing promises of hope down the road with the faulty fixation on forever stockpiling future draft picks, the Browns finally appear to have a roster worth fearing. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Don’t be surprised if Cleveland is – get this – favoured to win the AFC North in 2019. As for the Giants, they’re clearly now in tear-down mode. Not slapping a franchise tag on star safety Landon Collins last week was perhaps the first clear sign. Quarterback Eli Manning, at age 38 and with critics ever-ready to pounce on him, must now really be wondering how much longer – if at all – the Giants under second-year GM Dave Gettleman might be prepared to stick by him. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content It sure does feel like one Giant rebuild now, doesn’t it. THE BELL WAIT Le’Veon Bell has been waiting so long this week to agree to terms on a free-agent deal, the start of free agency has almost arrived. That’s a wiseacre way of saying so many top NFL free-agents-to-be jumped the gun and agreed to terms with a new team before the NFL technically permits it – that is, starting at 4 p.m. EDT Wednesday – that Bell might wind up the last of the untethered superstars to find a lucrative new landing spot. I’m sooooo torn right now 😩😩😩😩...decisions — Le'Veon Bell (@LeVeonBell) March 11, 2019 Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content When it was expected he’d be one of the first to land. By late Tuesday afternoon, however, the star running back had yet to agree to terms anywhere else beyond Pittsburgh. It may well turn out that Bell and his agent far overvalued his value on the open market – a market denied to him by the Steelers in each of the previous two seasons, when it franchise-tagged him. Photo by Michael Wyke / AP Photo / Files Two weeks ago, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reported that Bell would seek $50 million over the first two years of his new deal, even though no NFL running back ever has averaged anything close to $20 million per year on a contract. The NFL’s highest-paid RB currently is Todd Gurley of the Los Angeles Rams, who last summer signed a $60-million, four-year deal ($15 million per year) with $45 million guaranteed. The Steelers’ best offer last year to Bell reportedly was $70 million over five years ($14 million per year) with $17 million guaranteed. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content The New York Jets for weeks had been seen as a likely leading suitor for Bell’s services, so as to team him with quarterback Sam Darnold, last year’s No. 3 overall draft pick. Reports Tuesday afternoon suggested the Jets had made Bell a final offer. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Conflicting reports concerned the Baltimore Ravens; some said the Ravens were the only other serious bidder for Bell, while ProFootballTalk.com said the Ravens might not even be in it. From 2013-17 Bell sparkled as a doubly dangerous back in the Steelers’ juggernaut offensive attack, both as rusher and receiver. Over those five seasons he ran for 5,336 yards and 35 touchdowns, and caught 312 passes for 2,660 yards and seven touchdowns, to rank among the NFL’s most prolific dual-threat backs. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content But Bell sat out all of the 2018 season, in protest over being franchise-tagged for a second consecutive year, and after being unable to come to terms with the Steelers for the second straight year on a long-term deal. In so doing, Bell voluntarily rejected a fully guaranteed 2018 salary of $14.45 million, after pocketing more than $12 million guaranteed in 2017 on his first tag. Bell sees himself as more than a mere running back, wanting instead to be paid much more per year, as a hybrid receiver/runner. Now age 27, and with the weight of 1,229 pro carries in tow, Bell and his agent may have severely misjudged the market, even though numerous teams in need of an elite offensive playmaker still had tens of millions of dollars in available cap space. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Unlike his disgruntled former teammate, wide receiver Antonio Brown, Bell might well wind up having his cake and eating it too, but the cake might not be anywhere near as big as he’d hoped. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or ATYPICAL PACKERS When Ted Thompson was GM of theGreen Bay Packers from 2005-17, he’d snag a big-name player on the first day or two of free agency so infrequently that Packers fans called them leap years. Well, in that context current Packers GM Brian Gutekunst just crammed nearly half a dozen leap years into one 24-hour period. According to reports, the Packers have agreed to terms with the following free-agents-to-be: two of the top pass rushers available in Za’Darius Smith (from Baltimore) and Preston Smith (from Washington); safety Adrian Amos (from arch-rival Chicago); and guard/tackle Billy Turner (from Denver). Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content And look at the money Gutekunst is throwing at them, per reports: Za’Darius Smith, $66 million over four years; Preston Smith, $52 million over four years; Amos, $37 million over four years; and Turner, $28 million over four years. In total: $183 million committed over four years. If new head coach Matt LaFleur and holdover defensive coordinator Mike Pettine aren’t giddy, they should be. One long-time Packers defender who surely isn’t is Nick Perry. The Packers released the edge rusher Tuesday afternoon. He would have earned $11 million in 2019. More On This Topic KRYK: Say hello to the Oakland Browns, Detroit Ex-Patriots QB Nick Foles jumps to Jaguars KRYK: Buffalo Bills pursued Antonio Brown before deal fell apart RAVENS RAVAGED Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content The Baltimore defence lost a whole bunch more talent than just Za’Darius Smith. The Ravens cut safety Eric Weddle last week (he’s now a Los Angeles Ram) in a cost-cutting move. But per reports the Ravens will lose linebacker C.J. Mosley to the New York Jets, and 16-year Baltimore linebacker Terrell Suggs to Arizona. Defensive end Brent Urban of Mississauga, Ont., is another Baltimore defensive starter set to become a free agent, but as of late Tuesday afternoon the 28-year-old had yet to accept any offer. BARR LOWERED Linebacker Anthony Barr on Monday reportedly agreed to terms with the New York Jets. But Barr on Tuesday reportedly reneged, and now intends to sign a deal to remain with the Minnesota Vikings. Remember, folks, none of these agreements in principle for players set to become free agents Wednesday afternoon is official, or in any way binding. The player can back out without penalty, as in Barr’s case, as can the team. Nothing is signed. It’s the cost of jumping the new-league-year gun. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Barr reportedly will remain a Viking for $67.5 million over five years, with $10 million more in possible incentives, NFL Network said. CLASSY MOVE The Pittsburgh Steelers are keeping Ryan Shazier on contract and on the roster through 2019, eventually to be placed on the physically-unable-to-perform list. Shazier suffered a devastating spinal injury on a head-down tackle in 2017, and a year later was still working hard just to walk normally. Shazier will not only be paid again this year but qualify for the league’s medical insurance, to help pay for the massive medical bills he has accrued as he rehabs. As well, 2019 will count as an accrued season for Shazier’s pension purposes. ANGER MANAGEMENT The Bucs have released their Anger. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content That is, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have cut punter Bryan Anger. He punted for three years for the Bucs, after having spent his first four NFL seasons in Jacksonville. Anger averaged exactly 45 yards per punt last season, ranking 18th in the league. OTHER SIGNINGS-IN-WAITING According to reports … Teddy Bridgewater reportedly has elected to remain in New Orleans as Drew Brees’ backup QB, rather than sign elsewhere with a far better chance to start in 2019. Atlanta restructured QB Matt Ryan’s contract to free up some cap space, then the Falcons reportedly agreed to terms with two guards that presumably will better protect Ryan, namely James Carpenter (from the Jets) and Jamon Brown (from the Giants). DL Sheldon Richardson is off to Cleveland, from Minnesota. LB Jordan Hicks is off to Arizona, from Philadelphia – a blow to the Eagles defence, for sure. Cleveland re-signed WR Breshad Perriman for one more year. After losing defensive backs to other teams, Houston signed S Tashaun Gipson (from Jacksonville) and CB Bradley Robey (from Denver), the latter for one year at $10 million. RB Latavius Murray is leaving Minnesota for New Orleans, which all but means that long-time Saints RB Mark Ingram will sign elsewhere – possibly Baltimore, NFL Network said. G Rodger Saffold is leaving the Los Angeles Rams for the Giants, for $44 million over four years. C Matt Paradis (Denver) lined up a three-year, $27-million deal in Carolina. Cincinnati re-signed LB Preston Brown. Cleveland re-signed DL Carl Davis. Arizona will add former Green Bay backup QB Brett Hundley. The Jets were close to a deal to bring back top DL Henry Anderson, per the New York Daily News. The Giants, who let star box safety Landon Collins depart via free agency, lined up a replacement in Antoine Bethea, for two years.<doc-sep>
(UPDATE: A few hours after the Giants traded Odell Beckham to the Browns, the Jets landed prominent free agent running back Le’Veon Bell, who could boost their chances of snatching New York’s NFL spotlight from the Giants.) The Giants are clearly in full-on rebuilding mode, now that they have traded star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. to the Browns. And for the Jets, this becomes the big question: Can they take over the New York market, at least for now, as the Giants try to find their way? The Giants surely will draft quarterback Eli Manning’s eventual replacement this year. And the 2019 season figures to be a long one for them, with safety Landon Collins and now Beckham gone. (The Jets, by the way, host the Browns next season, in Beckham’s return to MetLife Stadium.) For years, the Jets have understandably been this market’s little brother to the Giants. The Jets came one win short of the Super Bowl in 2009 and 2010 — and watched the Giants win it all in 2007 and 2011. So even the Jets’ best recent years were bookended by the Giants one-upping them. The Jets haven’t won a title since the 1968 season — their lone Super Bowl trophy, and lone appearance in the game. The Giants have four titles (and five Super Bowl trips), all since 1986. Look, it’s not like the Giants have been dominant lately. Far from it. They have five and three wins the past two seasons. They have one playoff trip in the past seven years. (They lost in the wildcard round in 2016.) The Jets, of course, are in the midst of an eight-season playoff drought. There is at least some reason for optimism, though, within this young Jets organization. They have a promising quarterback, Sam Darnold, and maybe they’ll give him a big-time weapon in free agency this offseason — running back Le’Veon Bell. The Jets have won four, five, and five games the past three seasons. But if Darnold continues to progress, they ought to push for at least an 8-8 record in 2019. That won’t be enough to overtake the Giants around here, obviously. John Mara’s franchise has set a high bar of success. But now, the Giants are starting from scratch, with Collins and Beckham gone — and Manning surely out the door after this coming season, as the new kid quarterback takes over. The Jets still have a long way to go in their rebuilding process, which general manager Mike Maccagnan hasn’t exactly boosted, with his shoddy drafting and lackluster big-money free agent signings. (Will the latest, inside linebacker C.J. Mosley, turn out any better?) But at least they’ve made some progress toward a potentially successful future, with blossoming players like Darnold and Jamal Adams. If the Jets are able to land Bell and find a promising edge rusher in this draft, that’ll give them some pieces, along with Darnold, to perhaps overtake a downtrodden Giants franchise that is tearing down and rebuilding for the future — a process the Jets started in 2017. Even if it lasts for just a little while, a potential reign as New York’s No. 1 NFL team would be awfully sweet for Jets fans. Darryl Slater may be reached at dslater@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DarrylSlater. Find NJ.com Jets on Facebook.