Patriots Rumors: Where does New England stand in Odell Beckham Jr. chase?

If you’re waiting with bated breath for a resolution to the Odell Beckham Jr. free agency chase, you might have to sit tight through the weekend.

What we know? All indications are there’s no chance of Beckham playing a revenge grudge match against the Browns this weekend in a New England Patriots jersey — but that doesn’t mean you can rule out the Pats. It just means that whatever push they’re making won’t get done in time.

You have to snoop around a bit to see national writers connecting Beckham to the Patriots, but if you listen closely, it’s clear they’re not giving up, even as the Saints, Packers and Chiefs steal the headlines.

On Wednesday afternoon, ESPN’s Dianna Russini started the train by naming that trio as Beckham’s finalists, according to league sources.

In the wake of that report, though, things slowed down quite a bit.

By the time Ian Rapoport took to the mic later in the afternoon, the buzz was that the Beckham situation would take a while to resolve — perhaps several days.

He named all the usual suspects in pursuit, but also threw in the Seahawks and Patriots, though New England was not in the on-screen chyron. Does that mean anything?

Patriots making ‘strong push’ to sign Odell Beckham Jr.? Or no?

If the Patriots are still involved, and it seems like they are, they’ll have to hope Beckham prefers money over the bonafides.

New England seems like a prime destination for next year (though they’re making some noise in 2021, too). If OBJ is looking for a home and wants to sign a contract extension immediately upon landing, he’ll probably be more closely eyeing a marriage with Bill Belichick. The Patriots can also offer more money than most; the Packers have Aaron Rodgers, but they’re also dangling only the veteran minimum.

The Chiefs have a little more cash to splash, but Beckham would be entering that situation as the clear No. 3 on the offensive weapon pecking order. Is that something he’d enjoy?

The Saints, QB’d by a career backup in Trevor Siemian, don’t sound all that appealing. New Orleans reportedly pursued Beckham at the trade deadline, too. Why didn’t that go anywhere? They could’ve finished this whole thing on the cheap weeks ago.

Then there’s this fella Jordan Schultz, who’s stolen Patriots fans’ hearts with this tweet, claiming midday on Wednesday that New England was making a “strong push” to sign the mercurial wideout.

It’s certainly possible.

But, just so we’re completely clear, this is NBA star CJ McCollum’s podcast producer, and his pinned tweet is still a message he sent on Nov. 9 about how, once he clears waivers, Beckham himself will be prioritizing the Packers. Bottom line? This guy LOVES retweets!

We’re going to side with Rapoport here. The Patriots are still involved, but it’s going to take a good deal of negotiating before they slide ahead of the Pack, Chiefs, and Saints in the pecking order.

Debate Mac Jones vs. Trevor Siemian all you want, though. I think we already know the answer to that one.

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