Four weeks ago today, the Dolphins signed receiver Odell Beckham Jr. Since then, Beckham has yet to get on the practice field with his new teammates.
He’s present for mandatory minicamp. The team has decided to hold him out of team drills, for now.
“Everybody is excited to see players when they first get here specifically, and a player of that caliber, everyone is pumped up,” coach Mike McDaniel told reporters on Wednesday. “But systematically what we try to do is learn the player and develop a relationship with them and adjust to their body on their timeline so we can have the most beneficial, communicative relationship of maintaining health. Long story short, working into playing with the Miami Dolphins, between myself and [head athletic trainer] Kyle [Johnston] we decided you guys were going to have to wait. But that’s just due to the individual process that we are very consistent with when new guys come to the team. We take nothing of assumption and make sure when guys are on the field, there’s no setbacks. We’re obviously applying that to him.”
Receiver Jaylen Waddle separately confirmed that Beckham hasn’t been on the practice field with Hill and Waddle.
“I can’t wait, man,” Waddle said. “Like I said, when I was in high school, these guys were getting it done in the league. So I was a fan of OBJ, I was a fan of Tyreek Hill. They’re like the head honchos of the pass era, so playing with them, the kid in me is going to be kind of excited.”
Waddle is the head honcho now. He’s making more money than either of them, at $28.25 million per year. And both Hill and Beckham are calling Waddle, “28.”
Hill came up with it. Waddle should respond by calling Hill “25.” Because even though everyone says Hill makes $30 million per year, few take into account the phony $45 million compensation package in 2026 that drove the new-money average artificially from the real number.