Jay Glazer Has The Scoop On Why The Giants Traded Odell Beckham

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Odell Beckham Jr. was traded by the New York Giants in a transaction that was made official on Wednesday, but more details on why the blockbuster deal went down are now finally emerging.

Some fans believe for the Giants to trade a 26-year-old generational talent, one who shattered the all-time record for receptions, receiving yards, and touchdowns per game in his first three NFL seasons, for a mid-first-round 2019 NFL draft pick, a late third-round 2019 NFL Draft pick, and former 2017 first-rounder Jabrill Peppers, there has to be more to their decision.

FOX Sports NFL Insider Jay Glazer predicted the Giants would trade Beckham this offseason and he did it in February -- more than a month before the trade went down.

On Wednesday, Glazer admitted that this bold prediction was not much of a bold prediction. According to the plugged-in reporter, the Giants had already made the decision they were going to move forward without Beckham at that time.

During the course of his seven-minute spot on FS1's Undisputed with Skip Bayless, Glazer revealed a whole lot more about what went down between the Giants and Beckham behind the scenes and why he was traded. In the following piece, we transcribed Glazer's comments from the interview. You can also watch the clip from Undisputed at the hyperlink above.

Disclaimer: At this stage of the NFL's offseason cycle, it is important to note the possibility that some reports are driven by an agenda. Anonymous sources can be targeted from the team or player side (via his agent). We choose to aggregate and leave it up to the readers to decide how to interpret the report. We cover so we can offer insight, context, and our opinion.

We've got all of that and more here. Let's dive right into it.

Why Glazer felt so strongly an OBJ trade would happen

"I don't put things out there unless I know them. I care more about me being 100 percent right," Glazer said, via Undisputed. "I would rather have broken only five stories, but I got them all right, then I break more stories than anyone else but I got five percent wrong. I put some wild stuff out there, but I want people to know, if you watch FOX Football Sunday and I say something so outlandish like I did a few years ago that Jim Harbaugh would be out as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers even if they won a Super Bowl, you can take it to the bank. I am very conservative about what I put out there, even if it sounds outlandish.

"I've got to have it 100 percent. That's what I care about most. That's my name. So when I put this out there, I'd already known that the Giants made their mind up. I put it as a prediction, but the Giants had a conversation literally about a week beforehand that they were going to move on from Odell."

Glazer's story checks out. He reported that Harbaugh would be out as 49ers head coach just months before it came true. At the time, no one thought it was possible that Harbaugh would be gone based on the success he had in San Francisco. Glazer is arguably the most accurate NFL reporter in the business and he has the track record to prove it.

This was not all on Dave Gettleman

"Was ownership involved," Bayless asked Glazer next.

"Yeah, obviously," Glazer said.

While some Giants fans have piled on to general manager Dave Gettleman and quarterback Eli Manning as the culprits for the end of the Giants-Beckham marriage, it's foolish when they suggest ownership had no say in this. Gettleman was criticized by former Carolina Panthers players he managed on Twitter shortly after the trade, including Deangelo Williams and Josh Norman. However, the decision to trade Beckham goes far beyond just Gettleman. Glazer reveals more on that during the rest of his spot.

Ownership nixed trading OBJ during the 2018 season

"Last year, during the season, teams were calling the Giants trying to trade for Odell," Glazer said. "When it got to ownership, Mr. (Steve) Tisch, notably, said they weren't going to do that."

Earlier this offseason, Glazer made a bold prediction Beckham would be traded -- or at least that's how he framed it. In reality, he already knew the Giants made the decision and were biding their time to find the best offer.

Glazer made a bold prediction suggesting the Giants would trade Beckham during the 2019 offseason,via The Big Lead.

“Jay, give us some bold predictions about the NFL off-season. Give us a free agent signing, trade, or another bold prediction. Thanks. —Robert P.”

“I predictOdell Beckham Jr.gets traded this off-season. I think that’s bold enough.” – Glazer

The question we have for Gettleman, the owners, and the rest of the decision makers is simple. If you knew you were going to trade Beckham, what's the rush? Why could the Giants not wait until the end of March or just before the 2019 NFL Draft to continue fielding offers and waiting for more capital in return? Free agency was weaker than usual at the wide receiver position and the most talented options (aside from Golden Tate) have already been signed.

Shurmur rallied to not trade OBJ prior to 2018

"Last year, before the (2018) season, the Giants were looking like they were going to move on (from Beckham)," Glazer said. "Pat Shurmur came in and saved him. He said no, I got him, I can get him on board with me. I want this talent here. Then a lot of things happened during the year. He does the interview with Lil Wayne, and all that, then it kind of goes downhill. At the end of the year, when he pulled his quad, he wasn't even there. All of the sudden, they started playing well."

The Giants did score more consistently in the four games Beckham was injured during the 2018 season, but we're talking about too small of a sample size to make any judgment. In reality, factors including competition and the improvement of the offensive line during the final stretch played a key role in the Giants' offensive success during the four games he missed.

Glazer compares Giants-OBJ to a marriage and divorce

"Look, there's nothing wrong with Odell," Glazer said. "Great kid, incredible work ethic, great teammates. Sometimes, it's like a marriage that edged, passion is gone, let's just be friends, right each other letters, and check on our new families. About a week before I made the bold prediction, this year, the Giants were all on board (with trading him)."

During his introductory presser with the Browns, Beckham expressed his excitement to join the organization, via Josh Edwards of 247Sports.

“I’m extremely excited about the opportunity to be part of this organization and the direction they are headed,” Beckham said.

“I’ve already witnessed the energy fans bring in that city having been to some playoff games at The Q. Browns fans deserve a winning football team. This is a fresh start for me and it’s going to be great to join Baker [Mayfield] and Jarvis [Landry] on this team. I will always appreciate the opportunity the Giants granted me and I’m thankful to them along with the fans and people in that city for supporting me."

What changed after the Giants gave OBJ the contract

Bayless asked Glazer if the Lil Wayne interview and the things he said about Eli Manning, the coaching staff, and being in New York burned the bridge.

"It wasn't just that," Glazer said. "If you look at the Giants, they have the worst body language of any team out there. Every time something happens with Eli, then there's Odell, and he leaks into other receivers when he does this (throws his hands up). It's just a pity party over there. Look their offensive line was terrible. They had a lot more issues going into the year than we thought. They brought in Nate Solder, they got Saquon, everyone thought this was going to be great. But there's a reason they picked No. 2, they had a lot of holes to fill."

Odell's trade value likely went down

"Pat Shurmur came in and said look I understand the issues," Glazer said. "Back then when I was talking to the Giants, I said this is your time to get the most you can (in a trade) before more stuff comes out. Or more drama. If you guys don't do well this year, there's more drama. I think Odell's trade value would've been higher last year than it was this year."

It doesn't take a stretch to realize the Giants would have gotten more in return if they traded Beckham last offseason before re-signing him to a $90 million contract. More importantly, the Giants would not be strapped with a massive amount of dead salary cap -- including approximately $16 million in dead cap they are allocating just for Beckham to not be on the roster in 2019. That's right, the Giants are using $16 million of their 2019 cap space for Beckham to play for the Browns.

Giants view it as addition by subtraction

"For them, it was addition by subtraction," Glazers said. "They share the blame for it and put value on what was the best possible scenario -- instead of all the scenarios."

This line by Glazer goes to show you just how irreparable the relationship between the Giants and Beckham was when they agreed to trade him.

Cleveland wasn't OBJ's first choice

"I read that (Cleveland) was his first choice because of Jarvis Landry," Glazer said

I think LA would have been -- that's where he really wanted to go."

It's no secret Beckham wanted to be traded to California. Reports swirled the Giants also spoke with the San Francisco 49ers about trading Beckham before they agreed to a deal with the Browns this offseason. Last offseason, the Giants reportedly engaged in trade talks with the Rams about Beckham before Los Angeles settled on trading for wide receiver Brandin Cooks.

Beckham also spends the majority of his offseason training in Los Angeles.

Cleveland is the perfect place for OBJ personnel wise

"Being with Jarvis (Landry) yes. But Baker Mayfield is a gangster," Glazer said. "He's not going to be able to run through him. Mayfield is different and the type of guy who will fit in perfectly with those two guys (Beckham, Landry). He's not the type of who is going to get rattled in the huddle if he's not throwing (Beckham) the ball enough. He'll check him.

"I think team wise and personnel wise this is the perfect place for Odell to go to because he needs somebody like that."

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