NFL insider: Cowboys have leaned into Odell Beckham Jr. rumors as opposed to quieting them

The Dallas Cowboys have not played a game since the day before Halloween but have managed to stay in the news a bit ever since then, par for the course around here.

Sunday will see the team return to action, and they will do so at Lambeau Field. That brings with it a number of stories as it’s Mike McCarthy’s first game against the Green Bay Packers since they fired him in the middle of the 2018 season.

Of course, there is another storyline surrounding the Cowboys right now and it has to do with a player that isn’t on their team. Many fans are hoping that changes soon as free agent wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. has been connected to the organization just about every day since Sunday afternoon by way of some report or a comment from a team official. Smoke continues to build, and it is the fact that nobody seems interested in putting it out that has caught people’s attention.

The Cowboys have had multiple opportunities to quash the Odell Beckham rumors and have not chosen to do so

Earlier this week head coach Mike McCarthy spoke for the first time about Sunday’s game, and addressed the obvious emotional element of returning to Green Bay. Among other things, he was also asked about Odell Beckham and heaped praise on the free agent.

One day later Jerry Jones made his standard Tuesday appearance on 105.3 The Fan, and was also asked about all of the rumors surrounding his team’s interest in a would-be addition to their offense. He not only chose not to dismiss the idea, but, in fact, went as far as saying Odell would look great with a star on his helmet (a cheesy line, but you get the point).

Not to read too much into these things, but it is certainly notable that the Cowboys have done little to calm these waters. They seem very comfortable with the fact that they are connected to Beckham, and it isn’t just Jerry Jones. The fact that Mike McCarthy is in the mix on the same wavelength is notable as Ian Rapoport noted on Wednesday morning.

It is certainly possible that the Cowboys are just being nice, kind, political, whatever you want to call it, and that they are no more than the standard level of interested in Beckham joining their roster. It is not uncommon for Jerry Jones to stir the pot a bit on something like this, but it feels significant (using that word loosely) that McCarthy tossed some kindling on the flame.

Most reports suggest that Beckham will be ready around December which means we are still a bit away from something potentially happening. This hasn’t stopped fans from letting the idea swirl in their minds, and that also goes for Micah Parsons who has done his best to recruit Odell on social media.

Heads up on some NSFW language in Micah’s tweet:

Tick tock, the clock is ticking.