Odell Beckham Jr. on verge of signing with NFC team?

Jan 13, 2020; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; LSU Tigers former player Odell Beckham, Jr. in attendance before the College Football Playoff national championship game against the Clemson Tigers at Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

There have been some rumblings recently that Odell Beckham Jr. will not sign with a team until 2023, but the star wide receiver may not have to wait that long.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told Jarrett Bell of USA Today on Thursday that he expects Beckham to sign with the team in the near future.

“Odell’s going to join us,” Jones said. “There’s a good chance he will, with the complete goal of getting ready for a playoff game or two, and then I’ll look to the future. But most of it being about now.”

Jones said the deal could be made official at some point after the Cowboys’ game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.

“The great ones, the extraordinary ones, have an ability to make a play or two in game that can be the difference in a world championship or not,” Jones said. “It’s kind of against the principles of all the practices, the repetition that you do for football. It’s against that. But the reality is, it happens. That’s been my motivation.”

The Cowboys signed veteran receiver TY Hilton this week. Many thought that would take them out of the Beckham sweepstakes. There have been reports that teams are concerned about Beckham’s surgically repaired knee.

Beckham seemed to make it clear recently that he does not want to play in regular-season games. Jones is obviously fine with that.

Beckham visited with several teams before the interest in him died down a bit. It will be interesting to see what his Cowboys contract looks like if a deal is finalized.