Odell Beckham Jr. Elevated by Vikings for Saints Game

Odell Beckham Jr. is one step from a Vikings debut. Minnesota elevated the veteran receiver from its practice squad on Saturday for Sunday's game at the New Orleans Saints, a source told ESPN. The catch: the team still has not decided whether Beckham will actually be active and in uniform.

That call hangs on two guys. Justin Jefferson (ankle) and Jordan Addison (hamstring) are both listed as questionable, and neither had a full practice this week, per ESPN. Coach Kevin O'Connell said Friday that if Beckham got elevated, his status would likely depend on their health, and a source said Saturday that is still the plan.

Why the Vikings went and got him

Minnesota signed Beckham on Wednesday, with Jefferson and Addison banged up and No. 3 receiver Jauan Jennings at just two catches on four targets in his first season with the team, per ESPN. The Vikings also elevated receiver Jeshaun Jones from the practice squad.

Jefferson sprained his left ankle in Week 3 and missed Week 4. Even so, the Vikings are 4-0, winning with an offense that has ranked among the worst in the league.

Mike Florio at PFT pointed out the interesting part of the timing. Neither Jefferson nor Addison has been downgraded to out, and usually a questionable player who is not going to play gets ruled out the day before the game when he does not travel. So for now, both are still on track to make the trip.

The O'Connell connection

This is not a random flyer. O'Connell was the offensive coordinator for the 2021 Rams, the team that grabbed Beckham midseason and rode him to a Super Bowl. He had 27 catches for 305 yards and five touchdowns in eight regular-season games with Los Angeles that year, then 21 catches for 288 yards in four playoff games, per CBS Sports.

O'Connell remembers Beckham suiting up three days after signing with that Rams team. "I've seen him do it before," he said Wednesday, per ESPN. "The good thing about our system is we've got some mechanisms that either he can quickly learn, and know those are absolutes if we need to go that route in the game, if he were to be elevated."

Where Beckham is at 33

The Giants homecoming did not go anywhere. Beckham played 19 snaps in three games for New York this season without a catch, per ESPN. Before that, he had not played in the NFL since 2024, when he caught nine passes in Miami.

The career line is still loud: 575 catches, 7,987 yards and 59 touchdowns. And there is a little extra juice in where this could happen. Beckham is a Louisiana native who played at LSU, so a first game as a Viking would come in New Orleans, as Florio noted.

Fantasy folks should not touch him this week unless both Jefferson and Addison sit, and even then it is a dart throw.

Realistically, the best version of Sunday for Minnesota is Jefferson playing and Beckham watching in a hoodie. But if the ankle says no, a 4-0 team with a sputtering offense is about to find out what OBJ has left, in his home state, with an unbeaten start on the line.