After months of rumors and hemming and hawing, it appears the Dallas Cowboys are closing in on a deal with free agent wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. At least, according to Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones.
"Odell's going to join us," Jones said Thursday, per USA TODAY Sports. "There's a good chance he will, with the complete goal of getting ready for a playoff game or two, and then I'll look to the future. But most of it being about now."
Beckham has been sidelined all season after tearing his ACL during the Los Angeles Rams' Super Bowl victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. He had two catches for 52 yards and a touchdown prior to suffering the injury, and totaled 19 catches for 236 yards and a score during the Rams' prior three postseason games.
Throughout this season, it has been heavily rumored that Beckham would ultimately land in Dallas. However, after he took a visit to the facility in early December and the Cowboys did not sign him (reportedly do to a belief that he would not be able to contribute this season and would more likely be a factor in 2023), that scenario appeared less likely. It appeared even less so after the Cowboys signed former Indianapolis Colts wideout T.Y. Hilton earlier this week.
However, Jones is hoping that Beckham can make an impact by the time the playoffs roll around.
"I'm hopeful we can get into some important games and have some Deion Sanders-type results," Jones said. "Could this be possible to have a great player like that get in two or three playoff games and make some significant plays? I think very much so. That's not an exaggerated thought at all."
Jones has openly mused about the possibility that Beckham could help his team win its first Super Bowl in more than two decades, and did so again in his conversation with USA TODAY. "The great ones, the extraordinary ones, have an ability to make a play or two in game that can be the difference in a world championship or not," Jones said. "It's kind of against the principles of all the practices, the repetition that you do for football. It's against that. But the reality is, it happens. That's been my motivation."
