Russell Wilson reportedly makes Seahawks recruiting pitch to unsigned Odell Beckham Jr.

The Seahawks apparently are using their biggest and best asset to entice Odell Beckham Jr. to sign with them.

Russell Wilson “reached out” to the free agent and three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver this week to recruit him to join Seattle, NFL reporter Jordan Schultz said Wednesday.

The Seahawks’ franchise quarterback and Beckham have worked out together in Los Angeles, at UCLA, in past offseasons.

Wilson spent the second consecutive Seattle practice on Wednesday throwing without a glove or cover on his repaired middle finger of his throwing hand. He is off injured reserve to start Sunday at Green Bay, after missing the last three games for the Seahawks (3-5).

The Cleveland Browns waived Beckham on Monday. He cleared waivers Tuesday. That was after the Seahawks and the rest of the league decided not to claim him and the $7.25 million salary a claiming team would have owed Beckham for the rest of this regular season. The 29-year-old veteran will become a free agent after 2021.

Clearing waivers made Beckham an unrestricted free agent, able to sign with any team at any price for any length of contract.

While that decision saved the Seahawks from having to pay him $7.25 million and instantly giving him the fourth-highest salary-cap charge on the team this year, it means Seattle entered an open-market competition for Beckham. It means other teams could offer him a contract beyond this year, though it’s likely Beckham would choose a contending team on which to showcase his worth the rest of this season. That would be another free-agent windfall for him this coming offseason.

Various unsubstantiated reports the last couple days have put the Packers (the Seahawks’ opponent Sunday at Green Bay), the Saints and the Seahawks as front-runners to sign Beckham.

Monday, during the receiver’s waiver-claim period, Seattle coach Pete Carroll kept the door open to Beckham joining DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett as Pro Bowl-pedigree targets for Wilson.

“You’ll have to see how this all goes,:Carroll said Monday. “But at this time ... as you would think, we are aware of what’s going on, and we’ve been involved to understand it, to compete, to know what’s happening. And we’ll let you know as it all happens.”

Wednesday, Carroll was asked how the Seahawks’ talks with Beckham and his representatives have been going.

“I have no updates for you, I have nothing to tell you,” Carroll said.

Then he also said this Wednesday, while again keeping the door open to possibly signing Beckham: “It’s the same interest that we have on any opportunity that we get to help our team out, that’s what competing is. Like I have always said to you, John (Schneider, the general manager) and I have a real clear thought about that. And whenever there is an opportunity, we are going for it. We try to figure out everything if it would make sense, could make sense, until it’s not possible.

“You are either competing or you’re not.

“That doesn’t change with us. It’s not like we did something differently in any of these situations. We are just going for it and figure it out. Most of the time, you make the decision that it wouldn’t work or fit.

“We don’t want to use that as we didn’t try hard this time. We will see what happens.”