NO SMALL TALK
After public display, Beckham’s agent and Giants need to hammer out a deal
If the Giants and Odell Beckham Jr.’s agent didn’t make progress on an OBJ contract extension Thursday, they at least succeeded in making it look like they did.
Zeke Sandhu, Beckham’s agent, flew in Thursday morning and spent 90 very public minutes talking with Giants VP of football operations Kevin Abrams as the pair watched the club’s seventh training camp practice from a V.I.P. patio.
It’s a safe bet Sandhu and Abrams weren’t simply discussing their favorite dinner spots in East Rutherford. But whether this means the sides are anywhere closer to an agreement is another story.
What Thursday’s public dialogue did is make good on Giants co-owner John Mara’s promise last week that management would be making contact with Beckham’s agent “sooner rather than later.”
Mara’s refusal on the radio Wednesday to guarantee that a deal would be done by Week 1 had created uncertainty about just whether or not the team and Beckham remained on the same page. Mara’s answer — “Depends on how reasonable they want to be” — even seemed to poke Sandhu a bit.
So maybe Thursday’s ESPN report that negotiations actually had begun early this week — combined with the AbramsSandhu photo op at camp — settled down any public angst and put outside expectations back on track.
Except now that the two sides have met, the clock is ticking. The quiet won’t last forever.
It may for Beckham, who reached his 302nd straight
day without talking to the assembled New York media on Thursday. But for the Giants, who Mara says have no true deadline to get a deal done, there is most certainly a Week 1 deadline — if not an earlier drop-dead date — to pay their best player.
Unless the Giants are waiting to see where rookie D.J. Moore’s extension comes in with the Carolina Panthers in 2022.
I mean honestly, that’s how it feels right now, isn’t it? Beckham’s fellow 2014 firstrounder Brandin Cooks just got paid by the L.A. Rams, and 2015 Vikings fifth-round pick Stefon Diggs just cashed in with Minnesota.
Remember when the public thought it was ‘fake news’ that Beckham’s behavior and the Giants’ frustration was going to impact his ability to get a long-term deal easily, if at all? Those were the days. People believe what they want to.
No doubt, the relationship between Beckham and the Giants has rebounded dramatically from the spring — when the Giants discussed trading Beckham with the Rams. Now Beckham is in training camp, performing and behaving admirably and drawing praise from teammates and coaches daily.
Now, though, they can’t squander this opportunity. The Giants and Beckham need each other.
Beckham needs, wants and deserves security. He wants to set a precedent for players after him with this contract, not just get his due. Antonio Brown’s $17 million annual salary and Mike Evans’ $55 million total in guarantees, both highs for receivers, are targets to eclipse. A fully guaranteed contract could be a goal, building off the momentum of QB Kirk Cousins’ fully-guaranteed, three-year, $84 million free agent deal with the Vikings (though it is unlikely since Beckham is not a quarterback).
The Giants, meanwhile, need Beckham on the field to win. For while their offensive line may be slightly improved and Saquon Barkley should help their offense, Beckham is the X-factor that takes the top off of defenses, flummoxes defensive coordinators and, most importantly, consistently finds the end zone.
Plus, while the Giants have pushed big contracts to the 11th hour before — they extended Eli Manning only two days before the 2015 opener — they have been determined all offseason to dodge drama and distractions. They’ve postured more aggressively in Beckham’s case, but the last thing Mara wants is for the negativity of a Beckham regular season holdout to darken the optimism of 2018 after last year’s 3-13 season.
That is Beckham’s greatest leverage.
The Giants’ leverage, though, is that Beckham is coming-out-of-his-skin anxious to get back on the field and play in a game. Plus, the franchise could control him for three more years using franchise tags without giving him a new deal.
It’s a good thing, then, that they’re finally talking. And it’s obvious why they want everyone to see them doing it.
The alternative would be much uglier for both.