BIG-MONEY BECK
Odell, who said he wants to be highest-paid player in NFL, must love Garoppolo’s contract with Niners
Odell Beckham Jr. probably never envisioned himself asking the Giants for “Jimmy Garoppolo money.” But if Beckham still feels the way he did last July — when he told UNINTERRUPTED that he one day wants to be the highest paid player, not just receiver, in the entire NFL — then Beckham’s new bar to clear isn’t Antonio Brown’s $17 million average salary with Pittsburgh or DeAndre Hopkins’ five-year, $81 million August 2017 extension with Houston.
Instead, Beckham’s standard would be Garoppolo’s record five-year, $137.5 million contract extension with the San Francisco 49ers, after just seven career starts at quarterback, that landed with a bang on the league last Thursday.
The NFL world’s jaw collectively dropped, and everyone justifiably was awestruck at what this could mean for Kirk Cousins’ price in free agency this spring, let alone Aaron Rodgers’ cost headed towards free agency in 2020.
But in Giants land, where their best player is a wide receiver who knows his skyhigh value to this specific team, this continues to broaden the scope of what OBJ’s team could demand from GM Dave Gettleman and assistant GM Kevin Abrams in negotiations this offseason. That is not to imply the Giants are about to bestow a $30 million a year contract on Beckham, which would eclipse Garoppolo’s NFL-record $27.5 million average value on his new deal. Still, Beckham, 25, who is in essence due millions in back pay for both what he’s done and sacrificed on the field for the Giants the last four years, could eclipse Garoppolo in other ways.
Consider: Garoppolo’s contract, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, includes $34.2 million of the contract’s value guaranteed in year one and $86.4 million guaranteed through the deal’s first three years. The $86.4 million is the highest three-year guaranteed total in NFL history, per ESPN. Beckham might not match Garoppolo’s total $137.5 million compensation, but what if OBJ topped Garoppolo with $87 million guaranteed in the first three years of a five-year, $110 million contract, including signing and roster bonuses?
Think that’s crazy? Well, what’s crazy is that NFL contracts aren’t fully guaranteed, despite the inherent dangers of the sport these men play.
Beckham has said he doesn’t just want to sign a lucrative contract for himself but to benefit those who come after him. In this scenario, his $22 million-per-year salary would eclipse all other receivers, his guaranteed $87 million in the first three years would shatter the NFL record — pending Cousins’ deal on the open market, of course — and it would tilt the standard toward better protection for players. Now, last training camp, when Giants president John Mara said that the team intended to pay OBJ, he did qualify that Beckham’s aspirations to be the highest-paid player in the league may fall short. “The quarterback is always going to be the highest-paid player,” Mara said.
Mara was much more tepid about negotiations last month, when he said he wanted Beckham and new coach Pat Shurmur to sit down and discuss “how we are going to act,” a nod to Beckham’s immaturity issues.
But Shurmur and Beckham since have indicated in reports by ESPN Radio and NJ.com, respectively, that the meeting went well. And so now it’s time to talk numbers.
And the numbers on top receivers, and Beckham’s value to this team, dictate a monster deal once the Giants and OBJ’s people do eventually sign on the dotted line. Beckham already is reeling in an average of at least $5 million per year on a record Nike sponsor contract, and soon he’ll be worth an even greater fortune.
ESPN’s Bill Barnwell pointed out in a story on Monday, for example, that Calvin Johnson holds the record for guaranteed money at signing for a wide receiver at $46.6 million back in 2012. Beckham undoubtedly will be out to — and arguably deserves to — shatter that. Hopkins, a great talent, will earn $49 million guaranteed of his $81 million deal by this March. That’s 60 percent of Hopkins’ new money paid to him before even a year is up. Believe that Beckham’s team will seek to lock in a major percentage early of whatever his total becomes, especially after he relented on demands last year and played on his comparatively measly rookie salary and broke his ankle to end his season in Week 5.
Beckham’s immaturity issues and his limited but disappointing playoff resume, granted, could put dents in his initial ask. But consider that Hopkins was 25 years old with four NFL seasons under his belt when he signed his recent deal, with 317 catches, 4,487 yards and 23 TDs in 64 regular season games. Beckham in his first four years has caught 313 passes for 4,424 yards and 38 touchdowns in 47 games. And Garoppolo? Oh, right. 183 career completions (67.3 percentage) for 2,250 passing yards, 12 TDs and five INTs.
Jimmy G is a quarterback, sure. But you could make the argument that even with Eli Manning sticking around, given how far the Giants fell especially after Beckham’s injury last season, that OBJ is the quarterback of his Giants team, too. At least, that’s the argument he might make.