Report: Odell Beckham Jr., Giants Agree to Record 5-Year, $95 Million Contract

Rob Carr/Getty Images

The New York Giants and superstar wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. reportedly reached an agreement on a five-year, $95 million max contract Monday.  

Josina Anderson of ESPN broke news of the agreement, noting that $65 million is guaranteed. Beckham’s teammate, Roger Lewis, also shared a video of him dancing in the locker room after the deal was done:

Beckham skipped the Giants’ organized team activities last May, but he didn’t immediately announce why. ESPN’s Adam Schefter later reported his absence from the voluntary workouts was “directly related to the wide receiver’s desire for a new contract.”

Giants co-owner John Mara discussed the issue during a town hall-style event with fans last June, and he made the team’s intentions clear, per Art Stapleton of The Record.

“Obviously we want him to be a Giant for the rest of his career,” Mara said.

The feeling was mutual. Beckham, a three-time Pro Bowl selection and the 2014 Offensive Rookie of the Year, previously discussed his desire to remain in New York for a “long time.”

In July 2016, Kaylee Pofahl and Paul Schwartz of the New York Post passed along comments the wideout made during a football camp in New Jersey aimed toward kids.

“I wanted to do one back home [in New Orleans] as well, but this is my first one so New York’s gonna be my home for a long time, so I felt like might as well start here and then go back home,” Beckham said. “Kinda see how this went and obviously it turned out great, so looking forward to doing many more.”

As always, it came down to making the finances work for both sides. Beckham had a cap hit of only $3.3 million during the 2017 season, according to Spotrac, which came to a premature end when he suffered a broken ankle in early October.

Across his first 43 career games, Beckham tallied 288 catches for 4,122 yards and 35 touchdowns. That includes a career-high 101 grabs for 1,367 yards and 10 scores during the 2016 campaign. The catch total ranked third in the league behind Larry Fitzgerald and Antonio Brown.

Beckham caught 25 passes for 302 yards and three TDs in four games before he suffered his season-ending injury in 2017.

His on-field success hasn’t been without some off-field controversy, though. The 25-year-old LSU product came under intense scrutiny after he joined a group of teammates on a boat trip the week before the team’s 38-13 playoff loss to the Green Bay Packers in January 2017.

Regardless, working out a new contract with Beckham was always a no-brainer for the Giants. He’s quickly developed into one of the NFL’s most dynamic playmakers, highlighted by his trademark one-handed catches, and he would have been nearly impossible to replace.

Beckham is entering what should be his peak seasons, so he’s likely to provide New York’s offense with plenty of bang for the buck moving forward.