Odell Beckham Jr. says Giants sent him to Browns 'to die,' which makes very little sense

"They thought they’d send me here to die.”

Odell Beckham Jr. seems to be convinced the New York Giants wanted to punish him, the receiver admitted in an interview with Sports Illustrated’s Ben Baskin. The sentence? Spending multiple years in Cleveland after a trade to the Browns.

“This wasn’t no business move,” he told SI. “This was personal. They thought they’d send me here to die.”

Getting shipped to Cleveland would make sense as a punishment — if it was 2017. But alas, it’s 2019 and the Browns are expected to be good. Or at least, they have hype. Justified hype. Quarterback Baker Mayfield is a solid signal-caller on an upward trajectory, in part because he’s working under coach Freddie Kitchens, a rookie in the role but also an offensive innovator. What’s more, Beckham is good friends with Jarvis Landry, an incumbent starter at receiver for Cleveland. They played together at LSU.

What’s not to like?

And yet Beckham believes the Giants were trying to sabotage him with a trip to Cleveland. Here’s the context from SI:

In a situation like his, Beckham says, a star player will often get a chance to discuss his preferred trade destinations. But he was never asked. In fact, he claims to know that the Giants received better offers and still chose to send him to Cleveland, out of spite, hoping to stain his career with the enduring stigma that comes with playing for the Browns.

The relationship between the Giants and Beckham grew problematic over the last few years, and apparently the two parties hit an impasse this offseason. That’s why the Giants ultimately traded the wideout just one year after they signed him to a five-year, $90-million extension. After sacrificing a great deal of dead money on the salary cap, the Giants would be unwise to also give up extra compensation on the trade market — especially to send Beckham to a team that is actually a good landing spot for him. It just doesn’t make sense to frame this purely as New York moving him out of spite.

Beckham may be clinging to his beef with the Giants for a source of motivation — he may want revenge of his own if he gets to see New York on the field. Or these comments are a continuation of his past frustrations, which he can’t seem to bury.