Cowboys free agency rumors: Dallas reportedly on list of 5 teams Odell Beckham Jr. prefers

This past week was rather interesting for the Dallas Cowboys. They were coming off of their bye, and they have been gearing up to face the Green Bay Packers, a team that has left them sad more often than not in big-time moments over the last few years. Everything in between those events has been basically about somebody that isn’t on the team, though.

Over the past week many different members of the Cowboys offered up words on free agent wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and those words were basically about how they wanted to see him join their team. Micah Parsons, Ezekiel Elliott, Michael Gallup, CeeDee Lamb, and Dak Prescott all spoke along those lines as did Mike McCarthy, Jerry Jones, and Stephen Jones. To say there is smoke would be being a bit modest.

While Beckham did have a bit of a back and forth on Twitter with Parsons after he recruited him in a fun, but serious, way, he has yet to return serve in the same sort of way that everyone operating out of The Star has volleyed. Late Saturday night, though, a report emerged from ESPN that the Cowboys are one of five teams that OBJ prefers.

Odell Beckham Jr. would like to whittle down his current list of potential teams — which includes the Dallas Cowboys, Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs, New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers — as soon as possible and have a decision by the end of this month, league sources told ESPN.

Each of those teams is expected to at least be a contender to advance in the postseason, an area where Beckham helped the Los Angeles Rams win last season’s Super Bowl.

The Rams and Green Bay Packers might also have been featured prominently in Beckham’s list, but as both teams fall further out of playoff contention, the less likely it is that Beckham will opt to sign with one of those franchises.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that Beckham wants to attach himself to a team capable of winning the Super Bowl in the way that he successfully did with the Los Angeles Rams a season ago. That is, after all, the ultimate point of all of this.

The clear and obvious play here seems to be an NFC team. The NFC is by far the more wide-open conference and if there is any sort of interest in what the off-the-field benefits of each of these teams are, then there is no competition for the Cowboys.

If trying to jump on board a Super Bowl team is the play by Beckham here, then Dallas has the best odds of the three NFC teams listed. FiveThirtyEight has Dallas with the third-highest odds to make the playoffs right now (higher than both Buffalo and Kansas City by the way, and the highest of all five teams in general) and the fourth-highest odds to win the Super Bowl (they do trail Buffalo and Kansas City in this capacity).

The writing is on the wall here and really has been over the last few weeks. It all seems like it is going to come down to contract language which is where the Cowboys might have to bend. From the report:

Beckham wants to play for a contender, and league sources are predicting that his eventual compensation package could be similar on a prorated basis to some of the free-agent deals signed last offseason by fellow wide receivers such as Chris Godwin and Mike Williams, each of whom makes an average of $20 million per year.

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Teams also believe Beckham is looking for a multiyear deal, which could potentially give teams additional flexibility in structuring a deal that would work for both the free agent receiver and his new team.

Beckham also is nearly ready to play, as Dr. Neal ElAttrache — the doctor who performed the surgery on his knee — is ready to clear him for all activities.

It is time for Jerry Jones, Stephen Jones, and the rest of the Cowboys brain trust to get this done.