Odell Beckham Jr.'s Giants Contract Not Related to Malik Nabers Injury, John Harbaugh Says

The New York Giants' signing of franchise legend and wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. was not connected to the ongoing recovery of Big Blue wideout Malik Nabers from a torn ACL last September, per head coach John Harbaugh on Wednesday.

"No, I'd say it's separate from that. Nothing to do with that," Harbaugh said per a transcript (h/t Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk). "There's room enough for Malik and whoever the next four or five receivers are. There's room enough for all those guys."

Nabers dominated his first NFL season (2024), catching 109 passes for 1,204 yards and seven touchdowns. Unfortunately, Nabers suffered the ACL tear in Week 4 of the season and missed the rest of the year.

Per Harbaugh's comments on May 21 (h/t ESPN's Jordan Raanan), Nabers' return date is unknown at this time.

"He's in the middle of it. It's such a hard thing. It's an ACL, and whatever else he had in that knee," Harbaugh said. "Not a simple knee [injury], you know? So, um, he's in the slog of it, the grind of it, I would say. So, he's fighting through it, and he's here every day working hard at it.

"Just impossible to predict. I mean, the goal is to start the season and get out there sometime in training camp. That'd be the goal, and we'll see what happens."

New York has had numerous injuries at wideout.

Giants returner and wide receiver Gunner Olszewski suffered an Achilles tear during spring workouts, delivering a blow to the team's depth.

Outside Nabers, New York does have a host of wideouts on the roster after signing Beckham, Braxton Berrios and JuJu Smith-Schuster on Monday. That trio joined a team that includes Darius Slayton, third-round draft pick Malachi Fields, Jalin Hyatt, Darnell Mooney, Calvin Austin and Isaiah Hodgins, among others.

Ultimately, the Giants' depth chart isn't particularly clear regardless of whether Nabers is good to go. The Giants clearly wanted to add more competition and see what they come up with as the offseason goes along, and now Beckham, who amassed four 1,000-yard campaigns and three Pro Bowls during his five seasons (2014-2018) in New York, is back in town as the team looks to get the Harbaugh era off to a good start.