Odell Beckham Jr. is likely to miss the start of the NFL playoffs if he joins the Dallas Cowboys

Odell Beckham Jr. is set to lose his race to be fit for the start of the NFL playoffs next month amid his struggles with his surgically-repaired knee, despite Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones telling reporters that the coveted free agent is ‘going to join us.’ 

Appearing on the Pat McAfee Show on Monday morning, the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said: ‘It just doesn’t seem like Odell is gonna be read for the start of the playoffs or by the start of the playoffs.’ 

‘And like if you’re a receiver, it’s not like taking a running back or a corner where you can kind of slot him in. Like, you got to have rapport with the quarterback. One bad route means interception.’

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has told reporters that the coveted free agent is ‘going to join us’

‘Like it’s, it’s hard to fit a receiver in so I’m not sure that it’s going to work with Odell signing this year at all, which, you know, good job by him for generating a lot of the headlines for the last month or so, but it might amount to just nothing.’

Earlier on the show, Rapoport confirmed that Jones ‘reached out to Odell’ and tried to get a deal done after the Cowboys signed veteran, free agent wide receiver T.Y. Hilton, earlier in December. 

Hilton has only played with the Indianapolis Colts in his 10 years in the league. The 33-year-old has seen his game time diminish with age too, featuring in only 10 NFL games last season, despite once leading the NFL in receiving yards in 2016. That year, Hilton caught 91 throws for 1448 yards and six touchdowns. 

‘[Jones] has been talking to Odell one-on-one personally,’ Rapoport further said of the growing rumors concerning Beckham Jr’s future. ‘He’s been handling whatever negotiations are going on. He’s be doing the conversations.’

Ian Rapoport, of the NFL Network, spoke of ‘OBJ’s’ playoff chances on the Pat McAfee show

T.Y. Hilton, who spent 10 years with the Indianapolis Colts, signed with the Cowboys this month

It was previously revealed that the 80-year-old Jones went to great lengths to make sure his interest in pursuing Beckham Jr. matched his current players’ wishes. He even asked the newly signed Hilton if he would approve a deal for the former Giants, Browns and Rams receiver. 

Rapoport did, however, criticize the Cowboys owner for going public with his comments on Beckham Jr’s next destination.

‘So this is an interesting one because Jerry, an owner was quoted on the record as saying ”he’ll be with us” and everyone was like, ”we’ll see”,’ said the NFL Network insider. ‘And obviously that did not end up happening.’

‘I can’t imagine any other owner saying something like that. And everyone being like, ”I’ll wait until it’s verified”, but that’s exactly what happened.’

Beckham Jr. is reportedly close to signing with Dallas but is also on the Giants and 49ers radars

Although Beckham’s camp seems to be closer to striking a deal with the Cowboys than any of the other interested teams, time is not exactly on Dallas’ side.

The Cowboys only have three games remaining before the end of the regular season and are hesitant to only play the Super Bowl champion in the playoffs. On Sunday, Dallas clinched a wild card playoff spot despite losing to the Jacksonville Jaguars, 34-40. 

The Cowboys will now face the 13-1 Philadelphia Eagles on Christmas Eve, surely without ‘OBJ’. 

The San Francisco 49ers and the New York Giants have also expressed interest in the 2014 first-round pick.