Odell Beckham Jr. has had ample ties to Miami over the years and now could be Dolphins’ missing offensive piece

MIAMI GARDENS — Long before Odell Beckham Jr. became a superstar NFL wide receiver, he almost decided on playing football in Miami — and not for the Dolphins.

He was a standout recruit out of Isidore Newman School in New Orleans, and he chose between the Miami Hurricanes and LSU.

Former Dolphins receiver Jarvis Landry, his longtime friend, actually might be to blame as to why Beckham didn’t suit up in orange and green at Hard Rock Stadium in college instead of staying in his home state to play for the Tigers.

“Very close,” Beckham recalled Wednesday afternoon at his introductory press conference after signing with the Dolphins more than a week ago. “Miami Hurricanes, I actually drove down here to the camp and came down here like, ‘that’s the way you’ll get your (scholarship) offer.’

“Very, very close, but I was easily swayed by Jarvis and, wherever he wanted to go, I was pretty much going to go. I was sold.”

Now, the former Pro Bowl wide receiver, whose star status still holds up today with 17.6 million followers on Instagram, is in Miami deep into his professional career at age 31.

“It’s definitely a full-circle moment,” he said, sporting a white Louis Vuitton suit for “Miami Vice vibes,” as he called it Wednesday.

“It’s a place that I enjoy, beautiful weather,” Beckham said. “And obviously, a beautiful facility, organization, everything. An opportunity that I’m truly excited about.”

Beckham’s previous most-well-known connection to Miami might be taking a trip down before a New York Giants playoff loss in which he was photographed partying on a boat with teammates. He has fond memories of visiting on his bye weeks and picking up Landry at the Dolphins’ old facility in Davie when Landry was with the team from 2014 to 2017. The two later reunited with the Cleveland Browns.

The weekend the Dolphins hosted the F1 Miami Grand Prix on the Hard Rock Stadium grounds, Beckham, who visited with the organization earlier in the offseason, was back for what was supposed to be a business trip for a deal with CashApp.

It turned into him agreeing to terms with the Dolphins on May 3, that Friday, spending the weekend at the race and officially signing Monday, May 6. Strolling the Grand Prix campus turned into a spectacle of running into Dolphins fans excited for his arrival, some of which was captured in a recent social media video he posted, announcing his arrival to Miami.

“I’ve always gotten love whenever I come down here,” Beckham said. “Definitely get a lot of love down here and excited to do something special for this city.”

For Beckham to deliver, it comes down to how he performs as a No. 3 wide receiver for Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa behind Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle in coach Mike McDaniel’s offense.

A film session with McDaniel, presumably on his March visit with the team, convinced Beckham that Miami was the place for him in 2024 as a receiver who has had injuries derail the early promise he showed in his career of Pro Bowl selections in each of his first three seasons with the Giants.

“Coach Mike is someone who definitely sold it to me,” said Beckham, who hasn’t made the Pro Bowl since 2016 and hasn’t had a 1,000-yard season since 2019. “It’s just his energy. It’s just, we speak the same language. The conversations we had about football, and just the opportunity that presented itself. God put it in front of me, and you roll with it.”

He also had to be sure of his quarterback, and it took time for Beckham to come around to catching passes from a left-handed-thrower in Tagovailoa.

“Definitely was a little hesitant at first because he’s a lefty,” Beckham said. “I think I shied away from lefties, but now that I think about it, I’ve been throwing with Jarvis Landry since I was 15 years old. One of my trainers is left-handed. They said he just throws different. The accuracy and the spin, it’s not really like he’s left-handed.”

And the former superstar has to come to grips with knowing he’s not the top pass-catching option for the Dolphins.

“I haven’t been the No. 1 in a minute,” he said of joining a receiving corps with Hill and Waddle. “It’s not really where I’ve been at. … It’s not difficult at all anymore. I think I’m past it.”

But Beckham knows he has to keep up with the speed in the wide receiver unit.

“I got to go get back on the track, I guess, for a second,” he said. “It’s some speed down here on this team.”

But there should be passes coming his way when defenses key in on the duo that combined for 50.1 percent of Dolphins targets in 2023.

“Coach and I were talking about it — that on third down, we get a lot of doubling both of them. And there’s just a lot of room for opportunity,” Beckham detailed.

Joining the Dolphins reunites Beckham with elite cornerback Jalen Ramsey, whom he won a Super Bowl with on the 2021 Los Angeles Rams.

“That’s my dog,” Beckham said. “He’s part of the reason I’m here. It kind of gave me that same feeling.”

Beckham also had a year in common at LSU with backup linebacker Duke Riley, and the two have remained friends over the years.

Beckham is coming off a mostly-healthy 2023 season with the Baltimore Ravens in which he had 35 receptions for 565 yards and three touchdowns. He has an injury history with multiple ankle and knee ailments, including a torn ACL in that Super Bowl with the Rams that cost him the 2022 season. He’s another year removed from that.

“I feel great now. It’s been a tough road,” Beckham said. “Looking at it now, I’m just in a great position. Two years out of it, feel healthy, feel good. It’s not really the same problem that I have going on. Just excited to be at peace with my body and my mind.”

Beckham could be in line for his first on-field work with his new team when offseason organized team activities commence next week.