An intriguing trade was proposed recently on First Take by Stephen A. Smith, where he lobbied for the Green Bay Packers and Cleveland Browns to make a deal that teams Odell Beckham Jr. with Aaron Rodgers. Ultimately, I know this comes down to Smith wishing for anything that might knock the Dallas Cowboys off-course as they continue to roll along on a five-game winning streak.
Smith even promises that if this trade were to happen, the Packers would be in the Super Bowl, guaranteed. I’m unwilling to go that far because I don’t think Beckham is still that same dude on the field that everyone seems to think he could still be with a different quarterback.
Everyone outside of Cleveland knows Baker Mayfield has his limitations. For whatever reason, Mayfield and Beckham have not been able to get anywhere near the same page since OBJ arrived. We’re in year four now of the Mayfield-OBJ connection, but they aren’t connecting as often as they’d like to. We can blame Baker (and most have), but at a point, Beckham needs to be held to some type of accountability in this matter.
I think part of Beckham’s decline is the injuries catching up to him. That fantastic catch against the Cowboys happened a long time ago. OBJ hasn’t been that player in quite a few years, and he’s not that far off from the age of 30 either. All these factors are contributing to the lack of production we’re seeing from Beckham.
Along with Beckham’s production changing, one thing that hasn’t but probably should is the expectation many people still have for OBJ. Let’s face it, OBJ will likely never again be the same player that he was with the Giants, and I blame much of that on the injuries and some on him being in Cleveland the past few years.
But for SAS to promise the Packers making the Super Bowl if this happens…well, that’s just asinine. I don’t think it would be quite that simple. The Packers haven’t played the most challenging competition during this five-game win streak they’re on. The Bengals might be the most complete team the Packers have beaten this year, and it took overtime to do it. A big test is on the horizon for the Packers in two weeks when they head to Arizona to face the Cardinals. That’s what I’m paying attention to. Then, a few weeks later, the Packers play the Rams in Green Bay.
Realistically though, we all know this proposed trade by SAS is probably not going to happen. This is why Smith can be so confident in making this promise he knows will never happen. At least not this year, it won’t. Former Pittsburgh Steeler Ryan Clark may have uttered the most cogent point during this First Take segment. Clark mentioned the NBA trade years ago sending Chris Paul to the Lakers, teaming him up with a still-in-his-prime Kobe Bryant. This OBJ to the Packers trade would be vetoed quicker than the NBA did that CP3-to-LA trade back in the day.
No way this happens, but it is a fun “what if” to think about.
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