Odell Beckham Jr. contemplating 2023 as 'my last year' in NFL

After missing the entire 2022 season, Odell Beckham Jr. is back. But he might not be for long.

The first-year Baltimore Ravens receiver is already talking retirement before the 2023 season kicks off. He told The Athletic's Dan Pompei in a story published Monday that he's contemplating the upcoming season as his last in football.

"I'm thinking like this is my last year," Beckham said. "I’m going to give it my all this year. And then if something happens after that, we can go from there."

That's far from the declaration of a retirement tour. But the toll of an injury-plagued eight-season career appears to have Beckham mulling life after football at 30 years old.

Can Beckham regain form after another ACL tear?

Baltimore's Week 1 game against the Houston Texans would be Beckham's first since he tore the ACL in his left knee as a member of the victorious Los Angeles Rams in the Super Bowl after the 2021 season. He tore the same ACL in 2020 with the Cleveland Browns. An ankle fracture with the New York Giants cost him all but four games of the 2017 season.

Beckham burst onto the scene in his 2014 rookie season as one of the NFL's most explosive offensive weapons. He made the Pro Bowl in each of his first three seasons in addition to two All-Pro teams. He hasn't regained that form since his ankle injury in 2017.

Between his injuries and a stagnant Browns offense, Beckham was a shell of his former All-Pro self during a 28-game stint in Cleveland. But he proved to be a valuable contributor on a championship team during his brief 2021 stint with the Rams. It's that type of effort that Beckham and the Ravens hope he recaptures this season.

Beckham's bounced back once from an ACL tear. Can he do it again on another team with title aspirations? He joined the Ravens this offseason on a one-year, $15 million deal. Like in Los Angeles, he won't be the focal point of Baltimore's receiving corps, but a member of what projects as a balanced attack helmed by quarterback Lamar Jackson.

Beckham was the first of two high-profile wide receiver acquisitions in Baltimore this offseason. After signing Beckham, the Ravens selected Boston College receiver Zay Flowers in the first round of April's draft. The pair will join a passing attack that already features 2021 first-round receiver Rashod Bateman and three-time Pro Bowl tight end Mark Andrews. It's the most promising stable of weapons the Ravens has employed during the Jackson era, which was renewed when Jackson signed a five-year extension in April to conclude a prolonged contract impasse.

The expectation now is to compete for a Super Bowl. Beckham is an integral part of those plans. How Baltimore's and Beckham's seasons go could determine if Beckham plays football beyond 2023.