Jerry Reese had a conversation with Odell Beckham, Jr. on Monday before the New York Giants dismissed players for the offseason.

You hate to say it's a learning experience - I hate to see it when I'm in my 13th year - but sometimes guys just have to go through it, see what it's like, understand that they can't make it bigger than what it is. First and foremost, it set in motion the dreaded "D" word for sports teams - distraction. Among them was controversial WR Odell Beckham Jr.

For the third straight year, Beckham recorded 1300+ receiving yards, and was the Giants biggest offensive threat, despite the Giants struggles as a whole.

Eli Manning will be the face of this team until the day he retires, but for the moment, Odell Beckham Jr.is the best player on the Giants.

The G-Men fell to the Green Bay Packers 38-13 on Wild Card Weekend, but Manning enjoyed a solid campaign in 2016 that saw him throw for 4,027 yards, 26 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. I highly doubt any of that went on in Miami.

"We all have had to grow up at different times in our lives, and it is time for him to do that", Giants general manager Jerry Reese said of Beckham at his year-end press conference in the team's field house. "I didn't expect the game to go this way today".

Both Detroit and Oakland, which lost to Houston, 27-14, were defeated on the road after blowing chances in Week 17 to earn a home playoff game, and in the Raiders' case, a first-round bye.

Ahh yes, but he's a great, game-changing player.

And Cruz, as the veteran of the group, should be taking more heat since he should have been smart enough to talk the others out of making the trip. That's an obvious concern for a front office that watched Manning's offense fail to score 30 points in any game this season after topping the mark seven times in 2015. Twitter said he most definitely was not.

To prove that thesis, read about some of the legendary stories surrounding Ken Stabler and some of the Oakland Raiders back in the day, who won an bad lot despite an affinity for partying hard, or sit under the learning tree of those who knew New York Yankees Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle back in the day if you want to hear some wild stories. "We've got to start fast and make them as one-dimensional as possible". It's very hard for players to fly under the radar in their off-field activities, particularly for stars like Beckham.

Beckham at least realizes that the ill-conceived trip created a firestorm.

According to ESPN.com's Jordan Raanan, Reese cited Manning's age as a reason why it is wise to start thinking about the future under center: "We always think about every position".

Cruz was largely supportive of Beckham, who punched a hole in a wall underneath Lambeau Field after the Giants' playoff loss to the Packers on Sunday, however.

He'll have to listen to criticism of his Miami trip and poor play against Packers loss until next season. We'll help him with that, but he has to help himself, and we believe he'll do that.