The Browns releasing Odell Beckham Jr. seems obvious, but it’s more complicated than that

The Cleveland Browns have come to grips with the likelihood that Odell Beckham has played his last snap for the organization. But we’re a few days removed from when that became readily apparent on Tuesday and he’s still a member of the Browns.

Why don’t they just release him?

Well, the simple answer is, then he gets his way. Beckham doesn’t want to be in Cleveland anymore with Baker Mayfield, and by allowing himself to become a distraction (I worded that carefully for a reason), he has angled for a release. He’d very likely clear waivers because no contending team has the cap space to bring him on, and no non-contender with the cap space would claim him just to suffer the embarrassment of him declining to play for them. So then he’d be a free agent and be able to choose his next destination in the second half of the season.

We know NFL teams are all about precedent. GM Andrew Berry can’t possibly want to let OBJ dictate terms here. Berry has been in consultation with Beckham’s representation, and the Browns are trying to figure a way to end this in a way that’s beneficial to the team and with the least amount of distractions.

That may not be possible. While Beckham may not have posted…