Odell Beckham Jr. expresses excitement to play with Lamar Jackson: 'He's got a cannon'
New Baltimore Ravens receiver Odell Beckham Jr. has worked with a lot of really good quarterbacks over his 10 years in the league, and yet he’s still awed by his latest QB Lamar Jackson.
“To be on Lamar Jackson’s team, I always joke with him and be like, ‘I’m on Lamar Jackson’s team,'” OBJ said on the Rich Eisen Show. “We’re really on the same team. It’s just crazy to me that this opportunity ended up happening.”
“I remember when I was watching him in college,” OBJ continued. “Just being on his team and watching from afar, I’ve always had respect for him. I’ve always had a lot of love for him. I knew that I’ve seen a lot of hate when it came to him. Can he throw? Can he not throw? He’s got a cannon. He’s got a crazy arm.”
Beckham signed with the Ravens in April, just days before the superstar quarterback agreed to his $260 million mega contract that made him the highest-paid player in the NFL.
The duo discussed teaming up but rarely in the league do players’ plans meet the front office’s vision. Things just happened to work out perfectly right to bring OBJ to his new home.
Ravens win OBJ’s heart
As enticing as the Lamar factor was, the former LSU Tigers star still needed wooing from the ownership to hop on board. In his meetings, the Ravens made him feel valued. They followed up their words with an offer for one year, $15 million.
“It kinda boiled down to this: It was like that quote, ‘Go where you’re celebrated and not tolerated.’ It seemed like other 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.’
Ravens begin 2023 season against Houston
The Baltimore Ravens open the 2023 season at home versus the Houston Texans. They kick off at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday.
Last year, the Ravens went 10-7 in the regular season. The team then flamed out early in the playoffs with a first-round loss against the Cincinnati Bengals. Even so, they’ve retained the talent to challenge for the division again this year. Baltimore boasts five former first-round wideouts, including Beckham, on this year’s roster.