Giants owner addresses Odell Beckham Jr.’s reported holdout for a new contract
The New York Giants have been without their star receiver Odell Beckham Jr. for this entire offseason, and his absence from OTAs is becoming a bigger story by the day. Beckham hasn’t confirmed the reason for his holdout publicly besides saying he loves his team, but it’s easy to infer why he’s stayed away from the practice field.
He wants a new contract.
Beckham is eligible for a contract extension for the first time, and with his base salary scheduled to be $1.8 million in 2017, it’s easy to understand why he’d want a new deal. And according to ESPN, that’s the exact reason for his holdout.
https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/872405817366130688
It’s hard to blame Beckham for wanting to be compensated properly after putting up three seasons of at least 1,300 yards and 10 touchdowns to start his career. However, his holdout doesn’t seem to be doing much good.
Co-owner and team president John Mara addressed the situation on Tuesday night at the Giants Town Hall event, which reporters were not invited to. At the event, Mara told fans that negotiations haven’t begun between the team and Beckham but will in the near future.
https://twitter.com/art_stapleton/status/872237799793152000
The Giants have already picked up Beckham’s fifth-year option for 2018, which will pay him about $8.5 million. However, seeing as he’s one of the three best receivers in the game, that’s far from fair compensation.
Dez Bryant, Demaryius Thomas, Julio Jones, A.J. Green and Antonio Brown all make at least $14 million per year, which should be Beckham’s floor when it comes to annual salary. Unfortunately, the Giants have been reluctant to give Beckham what he wants. Why? Because he’s still under contract for two more years, and they’d probably prefer not to blow up their salary cap with a lucrative long-term extension – especially after signing big-name players like Olivier Vernon, Damon Harrison, Janoris Jenkins and Jason Pierre-Paul.
Eventually, this entire situation will work itself out, but it’s hard to see an extension getting done before the start of the season. Beckham likely will have to suck it up for one more year before seeing his salary more than quadruple.
