The Ravens have agreed in principle to a one-year contract with wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. reportedly worth up to $18 million, a blockbuster move after an otherwise slow start to free agency.

Beckham, who hasn’t played since he tore his ACL in the Los Angeles Rams’ Super Bowl LVI title in February 2022, reportedly agreed to a $13.8 million signing bonus and $1.2 million base salary. The deal, which also includes $3 million in possible incentives, has the highest annual value for any free-agent wide receiver signed this offseason, surpassing that of both Jakobi Meyers and Allen Lazard (both $11 million).

Beckham was reportedly set to visit the New York Jets on Sunday night. Instead, despite uncertainty around Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson’s future in Baltimore, he announced his next destination on Instagram with a photo of his son, Zydn, in a Jackson jersey and Ravens hat.

“Flock,” Beckham wrote.

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Beckham spent the 2022 season recovering from his knee injury; held a workout for teams last month, which the Ravens attended; and met with the team, among others, at the NFL owners meetings last month. If he can return to his 2021 postseason form, when he 316 yards in four playoff games for the Rams, he should boost a Ravens wide receiver corps that finished 2022 last in the NFL in total receiving yards. Nelson Agholor had been the team’s only addition at the position this offseason, though the team’s expected to draft a receiver later this month.

Beckham, a former first-round pick in 2014, made the Pro Bowl as a rookie and again in 2015 and 2016 with the New York Giants, but his production waned after he was traded to the Browns. After debuting in Cleveland with a 1,035-yard season in 2019, he had 319 yards in a 2020 season shortened by an ACL tear, then had a combined 537 yards with the Browns and the Rams in 2021.

“Odell is super athletic, twitchy,” Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken, who worked with Beckham in 2019, said in February. “[He] really likes football. I really did [like him]. It didn’t work out the year I was there [with him in Cleveland], but ultimately … he’s like every skill player; he’s no different. I don’t know why everybody gets pissed off — like, he wants the ball. Well, really? I don’t know where I’ve been where a great player didn’t want the ball. I don’t know where a basketball player didn’t want shots or a baseball player didn’t want to get at-bats.

“That’s what they want; they want opportunities to showcase their ability. I think it’s awesome. I think he’s tremendously skilled, and I like his personality. He likes to compete.”

jonas.shaffer@thebaltimorebanner.com

Jonas Shaffer

jonas.shaffer@thebaltimorebanner.com

Jonas Shaffer

Jonas Shaffer is a Ravens beat writer for The Baltimore Banner. He previously covered the Ravens for The Baltimore Sun. Shaffer graduated from the University of Maryland and grew up in Silver Spring.

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