On Friday, the Miami Dolphins announced they are parting ways with three-time Pro Bowl WR Odell Beckham, Jr.
Beckham will now be a free agent with an opportunity to sign with his fifth different team in the past four seasons. It's a sharp decline from when he was considered among the premier WRs in the NFL.
Beckham was most well-known for making one of the most insane catches in NFL history, on Sunday night in Week 12 of his rookie season against the Dallas Cowboys. He was much more than that, though, as in his first three NFL seasons with the New York Giants -- all of which resulted in a Pro Bowl selection -- Beckham accounted for at least 1,300 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns.
Beckham was the Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2014 and a second-team All-Pro in each of the following two seasons. In 2016, he became the second WR ever following Randy Moss (though they've since been joined by Justin Jefferson) to surpass 4,000 career receiving yards in his first three seasons.
Then, however, everything changed for Beckham. He tore his ACL early on in the 2017 season, and after 2018 was traded to the Cleveland Browns. He still had productive 1,000-yard campaigns in 2018 and 2019, but after that he fell off an absolute cliff.
More injuries and a straight-up lack of production plagued Beckham from being the generational superstar he once looked like he would be, and this season with the Dolphins, he had caught a total of nine passes for 55 yards prior to his release. He'll be a big name on the market, but it seems uncertain if he can still contribute at the NFL level.
This may very well spend the end of Beckham's career in professional football, in which case it becomes a waiting game to see if his production was enough to earn him a bust in Canton one day. After his first three seasons that felt like a lock, but now he might be remembered by history as just the guy who made that awesome one-handed catch.
