The New York Giants are releasing veteran wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., ending a short and largely unused reunion with the franchise that drafted him, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport reported Tuesday.
Beckham, 33, did not catch a pass in three regular-season games after making the opening 53-man roster. He played about 20 offensive snaps and was targeted once, in Sunday’s 12-7 win over the Tennessee Titans, when he was on the field for six snaps.
The move comes two days after that rain-soaked victory and one day after New York acquired quarterback J.J. McCarthy from the Minnesota Vikings for a 2027 fifth-round pick. The Giants are 2-1 and host the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.
Beckham signed a one-year, $1.3 million veteran-minimum contract on June 1 after sitting out the 2025 season. The deal carried no guaranteed money and a reduced cap charge under the veteran salary benefit, giving the club little financial risk if it later decided to move on.
The release, if processed as a standard cut, would make him a free agent. Teams have not yet announced whether they intend to claim him if he clears waivers.
The #Giants are releasing WR Odell Beckham Jr., sources tell me and @RapSheet. pic.twitter.com/PGSZ064v2r
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) September 29, 2026
Beckham returned to the Giants eight years after they traded him to the Cleveland Browns following the 2018 season. He was the No. 12 overall pick in the 2014 draft out of LSU and immediately became one of the league’s most electric receivers. As a rookie he caught 91 passes for 1,305 yards and 12 touchdowns and was named Offensive Rookie of the Year.
In five seasons in New York he recorded 390 receptions for 5,476 yards and 44 touchdowns. He made three Pro Bowls and two All-Pro teams. His one-handed catch against the Dallas Cowboys in 2014 remains one of the signature plays in franchise history.
The first chapter ended poorly. After signing a long-term extension, Beckham was traded in 2019 in a deal that sent safety Jabrill Peppers and draft picks to New York. He later played for the Browns, Los Angeles Rams — with whom he won Super Bowl LVI — Baltimore Ravens and Miami Dolphins.
His production faded after a torn ACL in 2020 and another in the Super Bowl. In 2024 he caught nine passes for 55 yards in nine games with Miami. He was waived before the season ended, then received a six-game suspension in 2025 for violating the NFL’s performance-enhancing drug policy. He did not sign with a team that year.
The 2026 return paired him again with coach John Harbaugh, who had him in Baltimore in 2023. Beckham earned the roster in August after seven preseason catches for 76 yards. Harbaugh said then that Beckham had “done enough to make an NFL roster.” Calvin Austin III’s season-ending knee injury also opened space in a thin receiver room.
Once the regular season started, the role never materialized.
