Browns Head Coach Open To Wide Receiver's Return

The Cleveland Browns are scrambling for their lives going into the new season after making some moves this offseason, but they could be welcoming a familiar face back into the fold.

Mary Kay Cabot, the Browns beat reporter for Cleveland.com, reported that head coach Kevin Stefanski is very much open to the idea of Odell Beckham Jr. returning to Cleveland.

“I really like Odell (Beckham Jr.). We’ll see how it all plays out,” Stefanski remarked.

The Super Bowl LVI-winning wide receiver has also spoken about the topic recently with a wink-wink comment on Twitter that has split Browns fans on whether they want to see him back on their side of the field.

Beckham spent the better part of three seasons with the Browns who traded strong safety Jabrill Peppers, guard Kevin Zeitler, and their first and third-round picks in the 2019 NFL Draft to take him away from the New York Giants.

The receiver posted a career-high of 89 yards in a single receiving play in 2019 and averaged 24 rushing yards in three attempts the following year.

However, things would deteriorate to the point of no return in November 2021 when the Browns announced that they would be releasing Beckham because of his father’s social media tirade about how they were using him.

This allowed him to join the Los Angeles Rams on a one-year contract and scored the first touchdown of Super Bowl LVI to help the Rams fend off the Cincinnati Bengals.

Beckham suffered a torn ACL in the second quarter of the Super Bowl, less than a year and a half after he tore it in October 2020, which now puts his 2022-23 season in jeopardy.

Returning to the Browns has a ton of implications for both the player and the organization since it does not seem like the two of them ever publicly made up, but the team did themselves a favor to get back into Beckham’s good graces by acquiring Deshaun Watson from the Houston Texans.

The 33-year-old’s issues stemmed mainly from his own personal issues with then-starting quarterback Baker Mayfield.

Mayfield is on his way out of Cleveland as the organization is looking into trade offers for him.

Beckham would be joining a receiving group of led by Amari Cooper and Donovan Peoples-Jones and Watson serving as his quarterback will make the Browns a team to watch out for in the AFC North.

The Browns need that veteran experience in the locker room, and this time around, Beckham might be the one to give them that.

Quarterback Deshaun Watson #4 of the Cleveland Browns is introduced by general manager Andrew Berry (L) and head coach Kevin Stefanski during a press conference at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus on March 25, 2022 in Berea, Ohio. Photo: Nick Cammett/Getty Images