FRISCO, Texas — If free agent wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. has interest in joining the Dallas Cowboys, the club is doing its best to let him know the interest is mutual.
Speaking on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas on Tuesday, owner and general manager Jerry Jones backed the Cowboys’ current receiving corps and shape of pass game but added Beckham “is someone we have all the appreciation in the world for what he is as a competitor and know that the Cowboys star on the helmet when he puts it on could look pretty good.”
In eight games against the Cowboys with the New York Giants and Cleveland Browns, Beckham has 40 catches for 558 yards and seven touchdowns.
On Monday, coach Mike McCarthy said he has, “always been a huge fan of [Beckham],” and former and current assistants on his staff have vouched for him. Beckham is rehabbing from a torn anterior cruciate ligament suffered in last season’s Super Bowl while playing for the Los Angeles Rams.
“From Ben McAdoo, Joe Whitt, all the guys from the New York Giants and Cleveland Browns, all the guys have nothing but great things to say about him,” McCarthy said. “I have always been so impressed with his football playing ability. I have heard so many excellent things about him over the years.”
No visits with Beckham have been set so the team can see where he is in his recovery, but normally Jones is reluctant to speak on any prospective free agents because of competitive reasons.
Beckham told Complex in a video tweeted Sunday that when he signs with his next team, he’d like it to be a multiyear situation. The Cowboys were one of four teams he mentioned.
“Whether it’s Buffalo, whether it was Green Bay calling, the Cowboys, reunion with the Giants, I want to be able to spill my last — not saying I only got three or four [seasons] left — but these next three or four years into something where I can buy a home, like I can call this place home. I’m tired of living out of two-week suitcases, I’ve done the rock-and-roll life,” he said.
The Cowboys were in discussions with the Houston Texans leading into last week’s trade deadline for wide receiver Brandin Cooks, but nothing came to fruition. They also had brief talks with the Denver Broncos regarding Jerry Jeudy, according to sources.
The Cowboys have the 25th-ranked pass offense and have not had a receiver have a 100-yard game yet this season. Jones said on The Fan he believes the passing game will improve, especially as Dak Prescott becomes more comfortable in his return from a fractured right thumb. Jones said CeeDee Lamb is giving the Cowboys everything they want as the No. 1 receiver, Michael Gallup, who tore his ACL last January and missed the first three games of the season, is improving every day and free-agent addition James Washington is close to returning from a broken foot.
“I’m anticipating more effectiveness. I’m anticipating not only getting the ball out of there quick, but Dak being able to throw the ball on the move, but I see down the field some in the pass game,” Jones said. “I like what we’re doing with our intermediate game with our tight ends … We’re just getting better at receiver. We may or may not as far as adding something to the receiving corps, but if we don’t, I like where we are.”
Source: www.espn.com