Key Points
- The Giants signed wide receivers Odell Beckham Jr., JuJu Smith-Schuster and Braxton Berrios on June 1
- The moves answer injuries to Malik Nabers (ACL), Darius Slayton and Gunner Olszewski (Achilles)
- Beckham, 33, returns to the franchise that drafted him in 2014 and reunites with head coach John Harbaugh
- Smith-Schuster, 29, and Berrios, 30, signed one-year deals; Smith-Schuster reunites with OC Matt Nagy
Odell Beckham Jr. is a Giant again. On June 1, New York rebuilt a receiver room thinned by injuries, signing Beckham along with JuJu Smith-Schuster and Braxton Berrios.
The signings
The Giants added three veteran wideouts on June 1: Beckham, the 33-year-old who began his career in New York in 2014; JuJu Smith-Schuster, 29, on a one-year deal; and Braxton Berrios, 30, a return specialist also on a one-year deal. Smith-Schuster spent the past two seasons in Kansas City — where he caught 33 passes for 345 yards and a touchdown last year — and reunites in New York with new Giants offensive coordinator Matt Nagy.
Why now
The room was gutted by injury. Malik Nabers tore his ACL last September and his availability for Week 1 remains unclear; Darius Slayton is rehabbing a core-muscle injury; and Gunner Olszewski tore his right Achilles in an offseason workout. Berrios, in particular, is a direct response to losing Olszewski on special teams. Together the signings are depth and return insurance, not a contender's splash.
A double reunion
For Beckham this is a homecoming twice over. He returns to the franchise that drafted him in 2014 — where he posted 390 catches, 5,476 yards and 44 touchdowns — and rejoins head coach John Harbaugh, who coached him in Baltimore in 2023 and said at the league's March meetings that the Giants were open to bringing him back. The two stayed in touch after Beckham left the Ravens. At 33 he is a complementary piece now, not a focal point, but the pairing with Harbaugh gives the reunion a logic beyond nostalgia: a coach adding a receiver he knows and trusts to a room patched around a young core, Nabers chief among them. New York's veteran-heavy roster moves have leaned that way for a while.
Sources: ESPN, Giants.com
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