by FRISCO — Day 1 of Odell Beckham Jr.’s recruiting visit began at noon at The Star, where the free agent wide receiver met with Cowboys officials and underwent an examination.
From there, Beckham left Collin County and ventured into Dallas County with linebacker Micah Parsons and cornerback Trevon Diggs to watch the Mavericks play the Suns Monday night near downtown Dallas.
“He’s a superstar,” Beckham said of Diggs. “Look at these two. This is the dynamic duo.”
There was plenty of star power between NFL and NBA players at the American Airlines Center. But there was only one star without a location: Beckham.
And yet, fans broke out in chants of “OBJ” when the free-agent wide receiver was featured on the video board during the third quarter of the Mavericks game.
He has visited three teams in the past few days, New York Giants, Buffalo Bills and now the Cowboys while trying to find a new home.
The Cowboys believe they have the salary cap and space on the field to make that happen.
“Everything’s fine man,” Beckham said of Monday’s meetings. When asked what happened after the meetings, he said, “I just went and got something to eat.”
Asked about The Star, he said: “Everything is beautiful. For everything else, I claim fifth.”
Whether the Cowboys will sign Beckham is uncertain, but Tuesday’s meetings with the Players’ Council could potentially finalize the deal.
However, a person with knowledge of the talks told the Dallas Morning News that the Cowboys have not yet decided whether to sign Beckham.
Jerry Jones knows he wants to sign Beckham as another jerk for an offense that blew up with quarterback Dak Prescott’s return from a broken thumb.
The Cowboys are averaging 37.1 points per game and 411 yards per game in the six games he has played.
Imagine what the Cowboys would do if Beckham joined a receiving corps of CeeDee Lamb, Noah Brown and Michael Gallup.
The biggest concern is Beckham’s health, specifically a left knee where he tore his ACL in last season’s Super Bowl.
Beckham said Monday his physical condition was “good.”
One point of contention is whether the Cowboys want Beckham to work out just to see him cut and squeeze his left leg. Beckham hasn’t coached for any of the teams he’s attended, and team owner and general manager Jerry Jones, while admitting he’s uncomfortable with the situation, accepts he may have to strike a deal without them.
“I’ve seen the healthiest players not getting the snaps they thought they were going to come in,” Jones said after Sunday’s game against the Colts. “So we’re not working with widows’ pensions here. That’s very risky when you’re basically making agreements with players in the NFL.”
This isn’t new territory for Jerry Jones, a man used to dealing with star receivers from Michael Irvin, Terrell Owens, Keyshawn Johnson, Dez Bryant and possibly Beckham.
“There just needs to be an element of understanding that we don’t know what might happen, and of course we shouldn’t do anything that would really put a hole in our ship,” Jones said. “We shouldn’t do that. Nor should he punch a hole in his ship.”
It doesn’t appear that Beckham is a dump for any ship, especially a Cowboys group that’s very close by. It was made clear by Beckham’s appearance in The Star on Monday and with his seating in the Jones Family seats next to the visitors’ bench, full court recruitment is underway.
“I think it’s like everything in these situations, it’s definitely unique because of the timing,” said coach Mike McCarthy. “I’ve never been in anything like this this late in the season. I just think like that, until you sit across from each other and everyone gets the information, you really don’t know exactly where everything is. But he’s definitely been to two other clubs and I’m glad he’s here and we’ll see how it goes.”
Twitter: @calvinwatkins
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