Posted on July 28, 2017, by Bryan Zarpentine
Image via nydailynews.com
Like a lot of people in this world, New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. just wants to get paid. One day after Beckham said that he wants to be the highest paid player in the NFL, Giants ownership acknowledged, and agreed with, the player’s request. While speaking with reporters Friday, Giants co-owner, John Mara, said that he believes Beckham will get paid what he wants, at least eventually.
“I think everybody wants to be the highest-paid player. That’s a great goal to have,” Mara told reporters. “He’s going to get a long-term contract. He doesn’t need to prove anything. He deserves to get paid. We’re going to pay him. It’s just a question of when.”
Mara’s comments came one day after Beckham created a bit of a media storm with comments expressing his desire to be the league’s highest paid player during an UNINTERRUPTED video.
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“I believe that I will be hopefully not just the highest-paid receiver in the league, but the highest paid, period,” Beckham said in the video.
Unfortunately, the 4th year wide receiver out of LSU also admits that he has no idea how contracts in the NFL work.
“This is my fourth year in the league, I don’t really know about contracts. I don’t know how they’re done, I don’t know anything about that,” Beckham told reporters Friday. “That’s for (Giants GM Jerry Reese), Mr. Mara, and the Giants. They can all figure that out. I just come out here, stretch, run around, play football, try to be the best player I can be every day.”
For the record, Beckham will make just under $2 million this season. For the Giants, it’s one of the biggest bargains in sports history considering Beckham’s status as one of the best wide receivers in the NFL. With the Giants already picking up his fifth-year option for the 2018 season, Beckham can look forward to a salary over $8 million. After that, Beckham will hit free agency for the first time and can demand however much money he wants.
Unfortunately for Beckham, he has two more seasons until he can demand a contract to make him the NFL’s highest paid player. Of course, he could always hold out for a new contract like Le’Veon Bell and Aaron Donald appear to be doing right now. Considering he’s one of the brightest stars in the game and is making less than $2 million, few would blame Beckham for holding out for a new contract, even with two years left on his deal. But he says that’s not his style.
“I don’t have time (to hold out),” Beckham said Friday. “I’m 24 years old. I’m trying to play football until I can’t play football anymore. I can’t get caught up taking days and not playing.”
The wide receiver added: “I’m not here to hold out. I’m here to practice. I’m here to get better each and every day. I feel I have stuff I can improve on, stuff I need to work on, and really stuff I’m willing to work on.”
With Mara’s comments Friday in response to Beckham’s on Thursday, it appears that player and team are on the same page. Mara says there have been no negotiations on an extention just yet, but that it’s possible a deal could get done by this time next year. In any event, it seems like Beckham can rest easy knowing that at some point, barring something unforeseen, the Giants will give him a contract extension that could very well make him the highest paid player in the NFL.