ESPN's Jeff Darlington calls Dallas Cowboys frontrunners for signing Odell Beckham Jr

According to a Tuesday report from ESPN’s Jeff Darlington, the Dallas Cowboys appear to be the frontrunner for signing Odell Beckham Jr. The star free agent receiver has been the focus for multiple teams looking to add a playoff weapon via free agency, and Darlington claimed on Tuesday that he would be “surprised” if Dallas isn’t the team that signs him.

Cowboys leading the push for Odell Beckham Jr.

While speaking on an ESPN segment on Tuesday, Darlington highlighted comments made by Jerry Jones after Beckham’s recent off-field incident after being removed from a plane. According to Jones, the incident had no bearing on their pursuit of Beckham and indicated that the team was looking at the best fit on the field.

As Darlington explained, the extremely transparent recruiting efforts by Dallas have established them as the frontrunner for the star receiver.

“The fact that the Cowboys are so front and center with just their vocalizing of their love for OBJ — and not just Jerry Jones, but Dak Prescott also saying that he has reached out and spoken to Odell about joining the team,” started Darlington.

“Now that’s not to say that the Bills and the Giants for instance are not doing the same. Von Miller for the Bills, who knows Odell very well has been clear about his desire to see him there. The one thing I want to point out though, is I have spoken to another general manager of a different team that we also connect to Odell — who basically said that ‘we just have to remember, it’s not just about who wants Odell. It’s about what the cost is going to be there as well.’

“When you start to get suiters involved, and you start to get into a bit of a bidding war for a player, by the way, who might not be able to make an immediate impact given his health. It starts to maybe flush out some of the people who are more serious. Right now we know that the Cowboys though are very serious, and it would surprise me I would say at this point if it’s anybody but the Cowboys ultimately signing Odell.”

Darlington went on to explain that the financial cost of bringing in Beckham wasn’t the only concern that teams around the league expressed to him. With Beckham coming off major surgery just nine months ago — and his overall history of significant injuries — the ESPN analyst believes it could be over another month before Beckham is seeing meaningful playing time for any team.