Odell Beckham Jr. reflects on his free agency, what made him want to be a Raven

Odell Beckham Jr. wasn’t short on suitors as he approached free agency, with several teams lining up to schedule visits with the 30-year-old receiver.

In the end, he chose to continue his NFL career with the Baltimore Ravens, signing a one-year, $15 million deal worth up to $18 million. Appearing on “The Rich Eisen Show” this week, Beckham detailed why the Ravens made sense to him.

Simply put, Beckham felt wanted by the Ravens and felt the love from ownership to bring him to Baltimore.

“I just feel like as much as the world gets to know somebody from afar, or we hear things or this or that or in passing — this person or that person — who I am as a person, I feel like once we sit down and we’re having dinner or whatever setting it is and we’re sitting there face-to-face, like you’ll see a completely different person than what the world had made me to be for better or for worse,” Beckham said. “I feel like you get to see exactly who I am.

Odell Beckham Jr. feels wanted by Ravens, taking on leadership role

“… Lived in Arizona at the time, and I’m in a different place in my life. I just felt this was the right thing to do, and just to be able to see and check the temperature. Never did I really think I was going to be here. I remember talking to Harbs [Ravens head coach John Harbaugh] last year about coming here and he’s like ‘Man, do you think you can make it in Baltimore?’ I’m like ‘Brother listen, when I’m playing football, I’m playing football. I have plenty of other time to travel and all that after.’ So, when I went to the Owners Meetings, I just kinda wanted to see — it kinda boiled down to this: It was like that quote, ‘Go where you’re celebrated and not tolerated.’

“It seemed like others places were, ‘We would love to have you.’ And this place, you know obviously the owner Steve [Bisciotti] — he made me want to be a Raven. And it was just that energy of like, ‘We want you here and we wanna use you, we wanna use your skillset and we need you here to be a leader.’ Being the older guy is definitely a little weird, but I’ve embraced it. I actually enjoy it, it’s cool. I’m at an age in my life where you want to be where you’re wanted.”

Odell Beckham Jr. coming off devastating injury in Super Bowl LVI

Beckham appeared in just eight games for the Los Angeles Rams in 2021, hauling in 27 receptions for 305 yards and five touchdowns as a key member of their title run. In addition to that run, in eight seasons, Beckham has 7,367 yards on 531 receptions and 56 touchdowns. The three-time Pro Bowler sat out the entirety of the 2022 season to focus on his rehab after suffering a torn ACL in Super Bowl LVI.

Now healthy, Beckham is a full-go for the 2023 season, and will compete for targets alongside fellow wideouts Rashod Bateman and Zay Flowers, as well as tight end Mark Andrews among others.