The chants of “OBJ! OBJ!” broke out at MetLife Stadium on Sunday as the Giants edged the Tennessee Titans 12-7 to move to 2-1. Odell Beckham Jr. was on the field for six snaps. He was not thrown to once.
Two days later, the reunion was over. The Giants informed the 33-year-old wide receiver on Tuesday that he was being released, multiple reports confirmed, ending a comeback that lasted three games and produced no receptions.
Beckham finished his second Giants stint with 20 offensive snaps and a single target across the three games. He sat firmly behind Malik Nabers, Malachi Fields and Darnell Mooney on the depth chart, with no obvious route to more playing time.
Harbaugh had promised more snaps just days earlier
The ending was jarring given what the head coach had said only days earlier. Asked on Friday about getting Beckham more involved against Tennessee, John Harbaugh backed the plan.
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“I would think Sunday would be great. I would be all for it for Sunday. That would be the perfect time in my mind. So I hope that happens this Sunday,” Harbaugh told reporters.
The Sunday touches never came. The Giants then acquired quarterback J.J. McCarthy from the Minnesota Vikings on Monday, a move forced by a season-ending knee injury to starter Jaxson Dart in Week 2. The receiver room was next to be trimmed.
A veteran-minimum deal that never paid off
Beckham had rejoined the franchise that drafted him on a low-risk contract. He signed a one-year, $1.3 million veteran-minimum deal with no guaranteed money and injury-waiver protections built in for the team.
The reunion also brought him back under Harbaugh, his head coach with the Baltimore Ravens in 2023. Harbaugh himself took over the Giants in January after 18 years in Baltimore, named the 21st head coach in franchise history on January 17, 2026.
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A record-setting rookie who leaves with zero
The gap between Beckham’s first Giants tenure and this three-game cameo is stark. Selected 12th overall in the 2014 draft, he was named AP Offensive Rookie of the Year and set NFL records with 91 catches and 1,305 yards in his first 12 games. Across five seasons in New York from 2014 to 2018, he caught 390 passes for 5,476 yards and 44 touchdowns in 59 games.
Injuries and stops with the Cleveland Browns, Los Angeles Rams, Baltimore Ravens and Miami Dolphins followed. He won Super Bowl LVI with the Rams in February 2022, tearing his ACL during the game itself. His most recent NFL appearance before this year came with Miami on December 8, 2024.
Beckham is now a free agent, hoping to land with a team that can better use him, according to Jordan Schultz. His 2026 catch total with the Giants stands where it started: zero.
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