Odell Beckham Jr.’s Giants return has quickly run into a problem, and Braxton Berrios is right in the middle of it.
When New York brought Beckham back on June 1, the assumption was easy enough to make: the reunion felt natural, the crowd would love it, and a player with his résumé seemed headed for the 53-man roster. Beckham had also played for Giants coach John Harbaugh in Baltimore, which only added to the sense that this comeback had a clear path.
Then training camp happened.
Beckham’s camp was uneven, and his first game action against the Vikings did little to change the picture. He finished with two catches for six yards. The MetLife Stadium crowd gave him plenty of love, but the highlight-reel moments that defined his early years in New York never showed up.
That has opened the door for Berrios. The veteran slot receiver was singled out by The Athletic’s Charlotte Carroll as one of the players who helped his standing last Saturday afternoon. Berrios caught a 9-yard pass, returned two punts for 30 yards, and was also flagged for holding.
“But there are only so many roster spots, and Berrios has emerged as a likely candidate to secure one given his versatility on special teams,” Carroll wrote. ($)
The key issue is that Beckham and Berrios are not really bringing the same thing to the table. Yes, they’re competing for the same space on the roster, but Berrios offers special teams value that Beckham simply doesn’t.
And Beckham’s case was always shakier than the buzz around his signing suggested. He has not played since December 2024, and since his 2020 knee injury, his production has been at best ordinary. The excitement around his return leaned heavily on old memories - Pro Bowls, viral catches, the version of Beckham everyone remembers - rather than the reality of a 33-year-old receiver with a long injury history.
That enthusiasm was easy to understand in June, especially with Malik Nabers dealing with lingering knee problems. But Nabers has since returned to practice, and rookie Malachi Fields turned heads against the Vikings. Darius Slayton, Darnell Mooney, and Calvin Austin III all look like locks for the Week 1 roster, which leaves at most two openings.
If it comes down to Beckham or Berrios, the edge appears to belong to Berrios.
Harbaugh hasn’t said whether the Giants would consider keeping seven receivers, and Berrios’ special teams role could make that possible. Even so, the more likely route may be for Beckham to land on the practice squad.
Saturday’s game against the Dolphins in Miami may be Beckham’s last real shot to force the issue, and the expectation is that he’ll do enough to keep the cutdown conversation on hold. He also has a history with South Florida, which only adds to the sense that anything less would be a major letdown.
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