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Before signing with the Baltimore Ravens back in April, Odell Beckham Jr. had been talking with the Jets, and apparently, the receiver came pretty close to landing in New York.

According to Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner, Beckham was so close to signing that he actually had already picked out the number he was going to wear in New York. 

"Odell, he wanted to play here," Gardner said in a recent interview with SI.com. "It was to the point where he was picking his jersey. He was telling me, like, 'Hey, ask so-and-so if I can get the jersey [number I want].' He was going to wear number 7."

Figuring out what number you're going to wear is usually one of the last things a player will do before signing a deal (or one of the first things they do after signing the deal), so it appears Beckham did come close to joining the Jets. It's very possible he would have ended up in New York if the Ravens hadn't stolen him away. 

Remember, Odell was actually scheduled to visit with the Jets on April 10, but that visit never happened because the Ravens came in and blew him away with an offer on April 9. And even then, the Jets still had a chance! According to another report, Odell actually gave the Jets an opportunity TO MATCH BALTIMORE'S OFFER, which tells you how badly he wanted to be in New York. In the end, though, the Jets didn't match the one-year, $15 million offer from the Ravens, so Odell ended up signing in Baltimore. 

In his introductory interview with the Ravens, Beckham said he signed with Baltimore because that's where he felt wanted. 

"It boiled down to, I'm in a place in my life where it means a lot more to be wanted than someone would love to have you," Beckham said, via NJ.com. "Because a lot of places would love to have you. But where you're really wanted, you can then pour your heart into that even more. It's just a lot easier."

Although the Ravens offered more money than the Jets, Beckham said his decision wasn't necessarily based on which team offered the bigger contract. 

"It wasn't about so much money. It wasn't about anything," Beckham said. "It's that they showed that they wanted me and viewed me as a piece to come here and help them win."

Not only did Baltimore offer more money, but Beckham could end up being the top receiver on the team, something that likely wouldn't have happened in New York with Garrett Wilson on the roster.  

Although the Ravens ended up landing Beckham, the signing does come with some risk. The three-time Pro Bowler has torn his ACL twice in the past three years and didn't play a single game in 2022 after suffering one of those tears in the Rams' Super Bowl LVI win over the Bengals.