Saints should go after Odell Beckham Jr. — baggage and all

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Super Tuesday is coming. Former Cleveland wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. will be available at 3 p.m. central time that day after parting with the Cleveland Browns last week.

Yes, he is a diva. But so was Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas, who declared himself done for the year last week as he continues to try to rehabilitate what is apparently the worse ankle injury in history. So was tight end Jeremy Shockey, who was key in the Saints getting to the Super Bowl XLIV that it won in the 2009 season.

How bad could Beckham be?

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Cleveland Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. walks off the field after an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals, Sunday, Oct. 17, 2021, in Cleveland. Beckham Jr. has been excused from practice for the second straight day as the Cleveland Browns figure out their next move with the polarizing wide receiver, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021. (AP Photo/David Richard)

Beckham may not be as good a receiver as Thomas, but he can be spectacular. And the Saints, who fell to 5-3 on Sunday with a heart-ripping, 27-25 loss to average Atlanta, need a receiver bad. Just a good receiver would be an improvement, but they need more.

Kenny Stills did a nice job on an 8-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Trevor Siemian to put New Orleans up 25-24 with 1:01 to go, but he has consistently dropped passes this season. Deonte Harris looked good Sunday with six catches for 52 yards. Tre’Quan Smith has had his moments — good and bad.

But there is no go-to receiver on this team. Drew Brees won consistently for years and took the Saints to the playoffs without the greatest of wide receivers, but Siemian is no Brees. He is solid and a better quarterback than Taysom Hill, but he needs all the help he can get.

New Orleans Saints quarterback Trevor Siemian (15) passes in the first half of an NFL football game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in New Orleans, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021. (AP Photo/Derick Hingle)

Saints coach Sean Payton and company need to get Beckham.

Word is Beckham wants to go to a playoff team and be in a winning environment. That is the Saints, period. New Orleans has been one of the most consistent teams in the NFL with four straight NFC South titles, and it has reached the playoffs four straight times and eight times since 2009.

Beckham, who grew up in New Orleans and played at Newman High – aka the Manning Academy – and was a phenomenal receiver at LSU while not being nearly as much of a diva, has never been on a team with the winning culture of the Saints and that of Payton.

Beckham has not been on a consistently winning team since he played for LSU from 2011-13. In his first two seasons with the New York Giants, they were 6-10. There was an 11-5 season in 2016 but a wild-card playoff loss. And back to 3-13 and 5-11 in 2017 and ’18. As a Brown in 2019, Cleveland was 6-10. The Browns won a playoff game last year after an 11-5 season, but Beckham missed most of that year injured.

This is an extremely gifted receiver known for Gumby-like catches who is a three-time Pro Bowl player and was the NFL rookie of the year in 2014. Payton and Siemian can work with that.

A player can’t be a cancer if the rest of the cells on the team know how things are supposed to be. Beckham wants to be viewed as the greatest. He pouted when LSU threw too much to fellow wide receiver Jarvis Landry and not enough to him.

There will not be that problem with the Saints. He will arrive as the guy – the diva. If he knows that coming in and is treated like royalty, maybe he will not be as much of a royal pain in the butt.

"They need me," maybe Beckham will say to himself.

FILE - In this Dec. 22, 2019, file photo, Cleveland Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. is shown before an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/David Richard, File)

"My city needs me," maybe Beckham will say to himself.

He won’t be able to go to any LSU games after that life-size game of Monopoly he played with the Tigers after their national championship victory over Clemson in the Superdome two years ago. The school has cut off contact with him because of his involvement in a current NCAA investigation.

"This Siemian guy needs me," maybe Beckham will say to himself.

You will be home. You will have a great offensive coach in Payton – the best you have ever had in that department by football fields.

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It’s never too late to grow up Odell. Maybe you can be the king of a Mardi Gras parade.

Come home, Odell.