The day the Giants decided not to trade Odell Beckham Jr., they committed to signing him long-term. It was just a matter of when, and if Beckham would help them get there.
Five months passed between the Giants’ spring Beckham trade discussions with the L.A. Rams and Monday’s signing of a blockbuster five-year contract extension worth up to $95 million, with $56.5 million in new guaranteed money, per sources, that shattered all the meaningful contract metrics for an NFL wide receiver.
And frankly, it is nothing short of a miracle that in just those five months, Beckham and the Giants rescued their relationship from the point of no return to such a triumphant reunion here nearing the eve of the final 2018 preseason game, just 13 days out from the Giants’ Week 1 opener at home against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
For it is no exaggeration to say that in March Beckham had reason to believe his Giants career was over, and now here he is in August taking a meaningful step toward remaining a Giant for life.
“It’s on now!” Beckham, 25, grinning ear-to-ear, yelled Monday from the driver’s seat of a suped-up black and red Mercedes before pulling away. “Gotta get some touchdowns!”
The fact remains, though, that the Giants needed to pay OBJ once they balked at trading him, despite the risk associated with both his history of immaturity and his surgically-repaired left ankle. If it’s a gamble, it is one they had to make.
For one, Giants ownership is hypersensitive to drama, dysfunction and controversy coming off their nightmare 3-13 season, firing both coach Ben McAdoo and GM Jerry Reese mid-year. And nothing would have soured the optimism of a fresh start with new stud rookie running back Saquon Barkley more than dragging the Beckham negotiations into a potential Week 1 holdout that — by that point — would have been the club’s doing more than the player’s.
And then there is the obvious: This offense is much better with Beckham on the field, or to put it another way, there is no evidence it is any good without him.
Head coach Pat Shurmur came here to win. Eli Manning, 37, doesn’t have many years left to win a third Super Bowl. Beckham is the best player on the roster. And for Shurmur to accomplish what co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch hired him to do, Shurmur needed Beckham on the field against the Jaguars and for several years more.
This wouldn’t have gotten done, however, if Beckham and the Giants hadn’t regained each other’s trust.
And that’s what this was and is about: trust.
Think about it: Mara was “tired” of answering Beckham questions in March, “disappointed” in his young superstar after the partying video from Paris surfaced, and refused to call Beckham an untouchable commodity, essentially inviting bidders. Shortly after, the Daily News broke the news of trade talks with the Rams.
Beckham was not behaving the way Mara believes a Giant needs to, and so he was on the verge of not being one.
So what changed? Well, Shurmur deserves as much credit as anyone for regaining Beckham’s trust by prioritizing his relationship with his best player and understanding their rapport was more important than any play the coach could draw up on a whiteboard.
Shurmur did not coddle Beckham these last five months, either. He simply articulated his expectations and then worked collaboratively with Beckham on a plan to get ready for the season. And Beckham bought in, showing up on time for both optional offseason workouts, then voluntary OTAs, then mandatory minicamp, and then training camp.
There were still hiccups. Remember the ESPN report at the beginning of June mini-camp that Giants doctors had cleared Beckham to practice and “conveyed hope” that Beckham would participate in some team reps? Or the ESPN report a few weeks back of angst about the team’s initial contract offer? For both sides at points, it was not easy.
Still Shurmur, knowing the sensitivity of Beckham’s contract situation and his significance to the team’s win-loss record, smartly held Beckham out of all preseason games. And the player gave the coach hard work in practice. And Shurmur in return gave Beckham cover and required rest.
And together they established a united front to limit the negative headlines until agent Zeke Sandhu, assistant GM Kevin Abrams and GM Dave Gettleman could put the finishing touches on a deal that satisfied both parties.
What that meant, for Sandhu and for Beckham, was to reset the wide receiver market. And the terms of Beckham’s contract reflect they accomplished just that.
Beckham’s extension, per sources, is a five-year, $90 million contract with $5 million in potential bonus escalators that can increase the total to $95 million. Beckham receives $41 million guaranteed at signing, including a $20 million signing bonus. The contract locks up Beckham with the Giants through 2023, since it is tacked on top of his current fifth and final year of his rookie contract.
Beckham’s new $18 million average annual salary within the five-year extension eclipses Antonio Brown’s $17 million average with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Beckham’s $95 million in total value blows out of the water Mike Evans’ $82.5 million with Tampa Bay. And Beckham’s $56.5 million in new guarantees leapfrogs Evans’ $41.7 million from March.
Including Beckham’s $8.5 million guaranteed in his 2018 salary, his total guaranteed money is $65 million, 10 more than Evans’ $55 million total, as well. And the Giants even saved $3 million against their team salary cap for this season in the process by reducing Beckham’s 2018 cap hit to around $5.5 million, with a reduced $1.5 million salary and the signing bonus spread throughout the contract.
Beckham’s mega-contract, of course, always was going to have ramifications for Manning’s future, since Manning costs $22.2 million against the cap this season and $23.2 million next year. Manning (12.5%) and Beckham (3%) will take up 15% of the Giants’ $177.2 million salary cap this season, but next year their combined total will skyrocket with Beckham""s cap hit set to increase to $21 million for 2019, according to sources.
And per overthecap.com, only two teams in NFL history have won the Super Bowl while paying their QB and top wide receiver a combined 20% of their salary cap or more: the 1994 San Francisco 49ers (Steve Young and Jerry Rice, 21.64%) and the 2015 Denver Broncos (Peyton Manning and Demaryius Thomas, 21.34%).
The Giants can cut Manning in early 2019 and save $17 million against the cap and eat just $6.2 million in dead money.
So Beckham’s deal could put them all-in on 2018, and after that, another tough decision may be coming up on the organization quickly, whether Manning is shown the door or key members of the defense are jettisoned, especially with Landon Collins being the next key player due a major contract extension.
On Monday, though, what the Giants did was make their team better both immediately and long-term by putting their money and trust in Beckham, who knows his task is now to reward them with a fifth Lombardi Trophy.
What a long way Beckham and the Giants both have come.