After being named the Cleveland Browns' head coach earlier this year, Freddie Kitchens made it clear he's not "in the prediction business."
His new star wide receiver, however, appears to have other ideas.
In a feature with GQ that ran on Monday, Odell Beckham Jr. predominantly discussed the custom Thom Browne kilt tuxedo he wound up wearing to the Met Gala. But in speaking with Cam Wolf, the 3-time Pro Bowl wideout also managed to fit some football in, making it clear he has lofty expectations for his career in Cleveland.
"I plan on being there for the next five years and trying to bring as many championships there as possible,” Beckham told Wolf, “turning [the Browns] into the new Patriots.”
Considering that New England has won six Super Bowls in the last 18 years -- including three in the last five-- that would mark quite the turn around for a franchise just one year removed from an 0-16 campaign and two-season stretch in which it amassed a 1-31 record. Of course, expectations in Cleveland have changed considerably following the emergence of quarterback Baker Mayfield, who broke the NFL's record for passing touchdowns by a rookie last year while leading the Browns to a 7-8-1 mark.
Beckham, obviously, has been impressed by the play of Mayfield, who he worked out with last offseason alongside Browns receiver Jarvis Landry. And for excited as he is for the possibilities of what his new team can accomplish, he also wasn't shy to raise the bar for his new quarterback, comparing Mayfield to a Hall of Fame signal-caller.
“I would say he's next, but I feel like he's now,” Beckham said of Mayfield. “He's Brett Favre -- he's going to be a Hall of Famer.”
Beckham also heaped praise on Landry, stating he "would take a bullet" for his college teammate, although he'd hope it would hit him in the arm.
As for the way his tenure with the New York Giants came to an end, the 2014 Offensive Rookie of the Year admitted "I just wasn’t very happy” and that he actually thought a trade to the Browns was a possibility a year ago.
Ultimately, however, it wasn't until this past March that Cleveland was able to acquire the 26-year-old, who amassed 390 receptions for 5,476 yards and 44 touchdowns through the first five years of his NFL career, sending the Giants first and third-round picks in the 2019 NFL Draft, as well as safety Jabrill Peppers in return.
With that, the LSU product not only finds himself in Cleveland, but also a much more content state of mind, so much so that he told GQ, “I’m probably the happiest I’ve ever been in my life."
Should his Patriots proclamation come to fruition, he won't be the only one in Cleveland to feel that way.