Odell Beckham Jr and 13 other NFL veterans who remain free agents in June

Until Odell Beckham, Jr. signs a contract with an NFL team, which may not even happen until November for all we can tell in June, rumors will persist that a reunion with the Los Angeles Rams is in the works. Which is also a reasonable conclusion to draw because OBJ did choose to sign with the Rams as recently as eight months ago, why not do it again if the goal is to win another Super Bowl and to increase his value for 2023 free agency?

However, any rumors or reports about OBJ are not to be trusted as imminent signs of a deal. The only news about OBJ that matters is the news that officially tells you that he has signed with an NFL team and until then OBJ’s presence on the free agent market will mostly serve as a catalyst for stories all around the league about the likelihood of any team making a deal with the popular wide receiver.

Despite a significantly long gap between Beckham’s reign as one of the top-five receivers in the NFL (2014-2016) and today, he remains an insanely popular figure and that was intensified by his contributions towards L.A.’s Super Bowl victory run in 2021-2022. That’s why as of late June, OBJ still headlines a list of the top 14 NFL free agents who are on the market today, posted by Gregg Rosenthal at NFL.com.

Here are the other 13:

LT Duane Brown, age: 37

The Rams did sign another veteran off of the Seahawks roster in Bobby Wagner, so could Sean McVay tab Duane Brown as a placeholder at left tackle if anything goes wrong during Joseph Noteboom’s first year on the job?

DE Trey Flowers, age: 29

Whether Flowers could even be a good fit in Raheem Morris’s 3-4 alignment is one question, but missing 19 games over the last two seasons with injuries is a bigger issue. Flowers can’t be expected to come near the sack production of someone like Von Miller as that has never been his specialty.

C J.C. Tretter, age: 31

Center is not presently a need for the Rams at this time.

WR Will Fuller, age: 28

If the Rams actually need a wide receiver, then why is there only ever talk about that one wide receiver? L.A. can have the patience to see how Van Jefferson, Tutu Atwell, Ben Skowronek, Jacob Harris, and others perform in August before rushing to sign another wideout behind Cooper Kupp and Allen Robinson.

LT Eric Fisher, age: 31

Another potential stopgap if the Rams need one, but we’re not even entirely sure yet if Andrew Whitworth is 100-percent committed to retirement.

WR Julio Jones, age: 33

Fans get disturbed when players like Calvin Johnson retire before falling off of a cliff, believing that they have many years left in them. But is that any less disturbing than having to watch the last two seasons of Julio Jones and watching him wallow in free agency alongside so many other afterthoughts?

OLB Anthony Barr, age: 30

Always a fine player as an off-ball linebacker, Anthony Barr’s status as a former top-10 pick comes into question when you consider that he has 17.5 sacks over eight seasons. The Rams don’t have a need for another Justin Hollins and Barr has missed 20 games over the last two years.

EDGE Justin Houston, age: 33

Who was the last team that Justin Houston played for? How many of you answered “The Colts”? Wrong.

DT Sheldon Richardson, age: 31

DT Ndamukong Suh, age: 35

L.A. remains talented at defensive line and the depth is fine, but one injury could open the door for a signing like either of these two. Many Rams fans have expressed an interest in a reunion with Suh.

CB Kevin King, age: 27

A signing like this would only be out of desperation. King has not played often enough in his career to warrant anything other than a flier.

LB Dont’a Hightower, age: 32

Not a fit.

RT Riley Reiff, age: 33

Not a fit.