John Mara said several times during the offseason that he wants Odell Beckham Jr. to be a Giant for life. On Thursday, Beckham gave the team's co-owner a hint of what that might cost.
"I believe that I will be hopefully not just the highest-paid receiver in the league but the highest-paid, period," Beckham said in a video posted on Uninterrupted the same day he and the rest of the Giants reported to training camp.
How much is the highest-paid? Well, Raiders quarterback Derek Carr signed a five-year, $125-million deal during the offseason that gives him an average salary of $25 million per year. That's a smidge higher than Andrew Luck, who averages $24.595 million on his current contract.
The top 15 highest-paid players in the NFL are all quarterbacks (including Eli Manning, who averages $21 million per year). The highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL is Broncos linebacker Von Miller, who averages just over $19 million. Antonio Brown of the Steelers is the highest-paid receiver at $17 million per year. Miller and Brown are Beckham confidantes.
Beckham, still playing on his rookie contract, is due to earn $1.8 million in base salary for the 2017 season. He will make about $8.5 million in 2018 after the Giants picked up his fifth-year option. Those numbers will be dwarfed by Beckham's next contract and might be swallowed up by any extension that comes before the current contract expires.
"It's like the elephant in the room, and you don't want to talk about it," Beckham said in the video regarding his future earnings. "But I've gotten to the point in my life where I'm like, 'No, I'm going to ... There's no need to not talk about it."
While Mara has expressed his desire to retain Beckham for his entire career, there have been no formal negotiations on a new deal. General manager Jerry Reese said on Thursday that the team will keep all of its options open in regard to Beckham's future.
