Odell Beckham Jr. would not go through waivers if he were released. He would instead become an unrestricted free agent, free to choose his next move rather than wait to see whether another team claimed him.
That is the answer James McMahan, Jr. was looking for in a New York Giants mailbag, and it matters because the cutdown date changes the rules for veterans with enough accrued service. Players with less than four years of accrued service are treated as non-vested veterans and can be waived, but any player with four or more years is not subject to waivers at that point. Beckham falls into that second group, so a release would send him straight to free agency.
The distinction is simple but important. Waivers give other teams a chance to claim a player before he reaches the open market. Free agency does the opposite. For Beckham, that means a release would not put his fate in another team’s hands; it would put the decision back in his own.
There is, however, one wrinkle that keeps the story from being tidy. Even if Beckham were released, he could re-sign with the Giants' practice squad if there was mutual interest between both sides. That possibility does not change his waiver status, but it does leave open a path back to the Giants if the fit were there.
The broader mailbag also touched on Evan Neal, Najee vs. Skattebo and whether Beckham is still the same player he once was. The answer there was less complicated: age and injuries have taken some of the burst that made him special. The rule question, though, is the one that lands with the most immediate force because it explains what would happen next if a release ever comes. For now, the only thing confirmed is the status he would have, not the move itself.
