When the news broke early on Friday morning that the Miami Dolphins and Odell Beckham, Jr. had "mutually" parted ways, fans took to social media to express their feelings on the subject.
Beckham was out of practice this week for personal reasons, and it seems that it was because he may have been upset, and the Dolphins were over it.
Judging by the reactions, no one really was surprised by the move, only that the team chose to use the optics of a mutual decision. The reality is this, either Beckham, who missed practice this week for personal reasons, or the Dolphins didn't want this relationship to continue.
It has been clear from the start that Beckham never really wanted to be in Miami. The Dolphins pursued him hard over the offseason, and despite knowing he would need knee surgery, they wanted him under contract. Well, that decision to sign Beckham has finally blown up, and fans are doing what fans do, expressing their opinions.
Some Miami Dolphins fans view Odell Beckham Jr. departure as an opportunity
"For the best…OBJ just wasn't a difference-maker. IMO he often looked disengaged. I'd rather see his snaps go to Malik Washington or River Cracraft…or even Devon Achane," writes Chris at Phins.com.
This is one of the reasons why Beckham may have wanted to leave Miami. In the last three games, Beckham has been targeted twice. There is no denying that if he still wants to actually play football, the Dolphins are not the spot for him.
He isn't getting the looks, but some have questioned how he practices, and that could be a reason why there is a lack of trust offensively. While that is only speculation, Beckham has only been on the field for 13 percent of the Dolphins' offensive snaps this season.
In the last three games, he was on the field for 17, 14, and 10 plays, yet only targeted twice. Miami has started to get Washington more involved.
Grier took a shot at OBJ on a very fair contract, nothing to hate about that.
— Daniel (@DanielEliesen) December 13, 2024
Grier did not adjust when OBJ was injured/not producing and left this team with 0 WR3, you can hate on him for that.
Dolphins WR depth from WR3-WR6 has to be the weakest in the NFL.
We won't argue with this line of thinking. There might be more of this to come out later from Beckham but the pulse at the time of his signing seemed to be more of a Mike McDaniel decision that Grier may have caved to. Beckham didn't seem like the type of player Grier would have signed, but it is right up McDaniel's alley.
Just a reminder, the money we used to sign Odell Beckham Jr could have been used to resign Andrew Van Ginkel. Have a good day 😄
— KG ❄️🏆 (@ShoutoutKG) December 13, 2024
The reality is most everyone applauded the signing of Beckham during the offseason. It was later when it was revealed that he had to have surgery and the Dolphins were fine with him missing camp that fans started to get more upset.
Most of the responses to the departure ranged from the "I told you so's" to the "Just didn't work out" kind of stuff, but no one is remotely surprised by this Dolphins move. And they shouldn't be.