After receiving stellar play, time to give in
JOHN Mara is on record saying he wants Odell Beckham Jr. to be a Giant For Life. I can only take that to mean the Giants coowner is not losing much or any sleep over his star player skipping voluntary OTAs, even if Ben McAdoo might be. Mara must not be terribly irked over Beckham failing to catch an opportunity to display a newfound maturity as a key McAdoo lockerroom lieutenant.
It is about the money, because it almost always is about the money, so it is more about common cents for Beckham than even common sense.
Now, the inmates do not run the Big Blue asylum, and contracts are contracts for a reason. And there is this tiny matter known as the salary cap.
There are, however, exceptions to the rule, and Beckham is one of them.
The Giants should not even think about playing the franchise-tag game with Beckham.
They should commence negotiations on an extension and show him the money.
The only way to make him a Giant for life is to make him a wealthy Giant for life.
If Mara wants Beckham to be a Giant for life, then it is difficult to comprehend that Nike views him as more valuable for wearing its kicks in 2017 than the Giants do for terrifying defensive coordinators and catching touchdown passes from Eli Manning.
I thought Beckham was wrong not to attend the OTAs.
It would be wrong for the Giants to let a player like this escape from New York.
Wide receiver Mike Evans was the seventh player drafted in 2014. The Buccaneers recently picked up his fifth-year option at $14.7 million. Beckham was the 12th pick that year. The Giants recently picked up his fifth-year option at $8.4 million. The envelope, please: Beckham: 288 catches, 4,122 yards, 35 TDs. Evans: 238 catches, 3,578 yards, 27 TDs. Beckham is due to make a $1.83 million base salary this season. There isn’t anyone who has outplayed his contract more.
Does he need to grow up? Yes, he needs to grow up. But Mara is hardly the only Giants fan who wants Beckham to grow up a Giant.
Though the Patriots have proven you don’t necessarily need a star receiver to win a Super Bowl, Beckham is The Straw That Stirs The Giant Drink, and this is a passing league more than ever.
Now, the Giants have just $7 million in cap space, and will have to find money for Justin Pugh and Weston Richburg as well, so the Beckham extension would begin in 2018. Antonio Brown has the highest annual average value ($17 million). The salary cap, $167 million in 2017, has increased annually by more than $10 million for each of the past four years.
A look at the first three years of the following careers: A.J. Green: 260 catches, 3,833 yards, 29 TDs. Julio Jones: 174 catches, 2,737 yards, 20 TDs. Brown: 151 catches, 2,062 yards, 7 TDs. Green was awarded a four-year, $60 million contract after his fourth season with $32.75 million guaranteed.
Jones was awarded a five-year, $71.25 million contract ($14.25 million AAV) after his fourth season with $47.5 million guaranteed.
The fifth-year option on their four-year rookie contracts amounted to $10,176,000.
Dez Bryant was awarded a five-year, $70 million contract ($45 million guaranteed, $14 million AAV) after his fifth season.
Demaryius Thomas was awarded a fiveyear, $70 million contract ($43.5 million guaranteed, $14 million AAV) after his fifth season. A look at their first three years: Bryant: 200 catches, 2,871 yards, 27 TDs. Thomas: 148 catches, 2,268 yards, 16 TDs. Lawrence Taylor held out for three weeks in the 1983 training camp following two otherworldly seasons, then again for 45 days prior to the 1990 season before the Giants made him the highest-paid defensive player ($1.6 million salary) in the league.
The Giants wanted LT, with all his baggage, to be a Giant for life, and made certain he was.
The verdict: Six years, $103 million, $47.5 million guaranteed, making Beckham the highest-paid receiver in the game.
Showtime on the field in No. 13. Show him the money time for the Giants. And once they do, it should entail show up time for next year’s OTAs if the head coach wants his star there.