JUST PAY BECKHAM ALREADY:
End the drama & give Odell a Giant wad of cash
Odell Beckham Jr. deserves a new contract. He deserves to be paid like one of the best players in the NFL and like one of the two most talented players in Giants history, right behind Lawrence Taylor.
Beckham has his first opportunity three years into his pro career to tear up his rookie contract and negotiate a richer new deal. And so he not only has the right but the obligation to protect his own interests, particularly in the land of non-guaranteed contracts that is the brutal, owner-friendly NFL.
Phil Simms even made the point on SiriusXM Mad Dog Sports Radio with Adam Schein on Wednesday that “there are so few players in the league that could ever get in this position” but that Beckham “is worth it.”
“If you’re the Giants … I would make Odell happy,” Simms said. “I would probably go ahead and break the rule and succumb to it and try to come up with some contract agreement so you can move on. Odell Beckham Jr. really has a chance to become part of the Giants’, whatever you want to say, greatest players. And to do that he’s got to be a team player and they’ve got to win. And they need to start this year.”
The confusing element of Beckham’s contract-related OTA absence, though, is that it is hard to believe the Giants don’t agree that Beckham is worth more than he is being paid now and that they will have no choice but to pay him.
He is their best player. His draft selection is the third shiniest notch on Jerry Reese’s belt, right behind Reese’s two Lombardi Trophies, and might be remembered as Reese’s career-defining accomplishment in the end. And co-owner John Mara even reportedly assured season-ticket holders Tuesday night that he wants Beckham to finish his career with the Giants.
So why, then, is Beckham’s OTA absence necessary? Why did someone advocating for Beckham’s interests feel the need to publicize this week via ESPN that he was skipping because of his contract? And finally, why is he simultaneously insisting he still plans to attend next week’s three-day mandatory minicamp anyway?
Beckham’s agent did not return a voicemail seeking comment. A Giants spokesman declined comment on the contract-related nature of Beckham’s absence, which picked up steam Tuesday when ESPN reporter Adam Schefter said in the morning that Beckham should hold out and then Beckham retweeted video of Schefter’s comments that night.
But so far it doesn’t appear Giants ownership and Beckham’s camp have started negotiating, let alone hit a snag.
And perhaps that is the point. Maybe Beckham simply is trying to raise awareness — both privately in the Giants’ building and publicly to the fans — that he would like to see progress soon.
It isn’t technically a holdout until Beckham misses something mandatory; he hasn’t done so yet. And so far, players have told the Daily News that Beckham’s absence doesn’t bother them at all.
Two major reasons for that support are Beckham’s stats (an incredible 288 catches, 4,122 yards and 35 TDs in 43 games) and Beckham’s work ethic (no one can question his hustle; the guy truly works to be great). They are also two of the biggest reasons Beckham deserves a new contract.
Still, what Beckham has to understand is that the timing of this is tricky, complicated by his unpredictable personality and by his playoff failure in Green Bay in January.
If Beckham, 24, hadn’t made several immature decisions on and off the field in his first three years, and if he’d made 12 catches for 150 yards and two touchdowns at Lambeau Field, he might have that new deal already.
Instead, Beckham’s resume includes that scary flip-out against Josh Norman when the corner was playing for Carolina, an ill-advised party trip to Miami six days before his first career playoff game, a fourcatch, 28-yard dud with two drops in a 3813 loss to the Packers, including a dropped touchdown, and Reese publicly announcing that Beckham needs to grow up and mature on breakup day.
The point is Beckham is not just any star player, and that works both in his favor and against it. Also working against him is that the Giants have no hard deadline to sign him to a new long-term contract like the Denver Broncos did with Beckham’s friend Von Miller last summer, for example, under the franchise tag with a mid-July deadline.
Plus, Beckham loves the spotlight, and would he really sit out a full NFL season and forego an entire year to make his point? I’m not sure he’d be willing to sacrifice that much.
Beckham remains under contract for two more seasons: $1.8 million in base salary this coming season and $8.4 million in 2018, the fifth-year option that the Giants recently picked up. That option is guaranteed to injury, and Beckham also has a new five-year, $29 million Nike endorsement deal in hand.
How much would it take for the Giants to make Beckham happy?
Antonio Brown, Beckham’s friend on the Steelers, just signed a five-year deal worth almost $73 million with $19 million guaranteed. Brown’s deal is worth $17 million per year, highest among all receivers.
As a first round pick with a historic start, it would be no surprise if Beckham sought a contract such as five years, 100 million with half of it guaranteed.
He would be fined $80,405 total ($13,400 on day one, $26,800 on day two, and $40,205 on day three) if he missed next week’s mandatory minicamp, which would cement this as a holdout. But we aren’t there yet
For now, Beckham appears to be trying to make his point somewhat softly. For now.