The New York Giants and Odell Beckham Jr. finally hammered out a new contract before the start of the NFL season, and that’s good news for the team and OBJ.
Negotiations between the parties have come full circle from this spring when rumors were rampant that the New York Giants were trying to trade their star receiver. More importantly, the road to recovery for the G-Men runs right through the No. 13, more so than any other player on the current roster.
Like every negotiation, each side had legitimate points to convey. For the team, Odell Beckham was coming off of a significant injury, and he hasn’t been the most thoughtful player at times. In the case of Beckham, the star receiver’s statistics speak volumes.
Ownership and general manager Dave Gettleman conceded that this was a long and winding road. Fortunately for both parties, they seemingly met in the middle, at a point where OBJ gets security and a nice payday, and the contract isn’t punitive to the franchise.
While others may disagree with that assessment, Gettleman emphasized that mind-set, per the team’s official website:
"“[Negotiations were] not a distraction because of the way we handled it. The way he handled it, the way we handled it. I was thrilled when he spoke to the media at training camp. I was thrilled he said it’ll get done when it gets done, because that’s what it is. You can’t force things, it’s a negotiation. It’s a back and forth, both sides have to be intentional and thoughtful, which we were. It was great negotiating, it was a very good give and take with Kevin (Abrams, the assistant general manager) and Zeke (Sandhu, Beckham’s agent). We got to the right answer as far as I’m concerned.”"
According to Pro Football Reference, despite missing the equivalent of a full NFL season, actually 17 games, Odell Beckham averages over 1,100 receiving yards per season in his career. And in order to rebut the naysayers, understand that his stats aren’t window dressing either. When OBJ plays more than 12 games in a season, he scores double-digits in touchdowns.
Does he deserve to be the highest paid receiver in the game?
That’s really a question without an answer. Talking heads on the sports networks will likely debate this question ad nauseam this week. Their debate lacks and will continue to lack context. Contracts are simply a snapshot in time, not an eternal measuring stick.
In order to play along, let’s take Julio Jones (Atlanta Falcons), Antonio Brown (Pittsburgh Steelers) and Mike Evans (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) as examples. Everyone knows that OBJ belongs in the conversation with them for best NFL wideout.
First, Jones decided to cash in and opted for security over dollars. He’s since changed his mind, after not needing the security. Can he do that? Then came Brown with his payday, and after him, Evans saw a few months at the top of the receiver pay chart. By this example we see that a contract is the union between the pecking order and a brief period of time.
Now, it’s Beckham’s turn. Next in line, maybe the Houston Texans DeAndre Hopkins. That’s the way these things work.
By the numbers
New York Giants
The one mistake that was made in these negotiations was on Beckham’s part. His request to be the highest paid NFL player was an “oh brother” moment. It was never going to happen. And quite frankly, the only purpose that it served was to gum up negotiations.
Given the wide receiver market, OBJ was never going to surpass, or even come close to Matt Ryan’s $30 million contract with the Atlanta Falcons. In response, the G-Men had go below the Antonio Brown and Mike Evans contracts, which otherwise would have been reasonable starting points.
According to Spotrac, Beckham gets a $20 million signing bonus. He pockets that money right now. Through bookkeeping, the New York Giants spread the bonus over the next five years at $4 million per season. A valuable offset for the team comes from the fact that Beckham’s base salary for 2018 becomes $1.459 million. In essence, OBJ receives $21.459 million this season, but he shows up with a salary cap hit of only $5.459 million.
That cap hit for 2018 ranks him 36th among receivers in the NFL. Fair? Very fair? Incredibly fair?With the Beckham contract and the trade of center Brett Jones, Spotrac indicates that the New York Giants have $4.554 million in available cap space as we head into the 2018 campaign. That’s great work by Gettleman and assistant general manager Kevin Abrams in advance of cutdown day.
The other nice thing about this contract comes from the fact that the bonus gets spread over the first five years of what, in reality, is a six-year contract. In the final year of the deal (2023), Beckham makes $15 million in salary. If the New York Giants choose to cut him (unlikely), there is no dead cap hit.
All of the other big dollar contract that the New York Giants have in their team portfolio come with a dead cap hit if the team cuts the player. These cap hits range from $6.2 million fo Eli Manning (2019) down to $2 million for cornerback Janoris Jenkins (2020). It’s another feather in the cap of the Giants front office. Everything considered, this really is a deal with which both sides can be content.