All pro sports contracts require a leap of faith to varying degrees. A huge extension for diva wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. will top the charts in terms of anxiety level for the Giants if and when a new deal is finalized.
As general manager Dave Gettleman works toward a new contract for OBJ with Giants owner John Mara watching closely, my advice to the team is simple: Proceed with caution. Be sure the deal includes protections for New York so Beckham has to be productive on the field and trouble-free off the field in order to max out the potential dollars.
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I salute Beckham and his agent Zeke Sandhu for the smart decision to participate in the Giants' offseason program and report on time to training camp. Beckham is saying the right things, such as, "They'll get it done when they get it done. Let my agent and them figure it out. I'm optimistic."
Beckham's gesture of good faith — not to mention his staying out of the tabloids lately — has motivated New York to work on an extension that, if completed, could take the 25-year-old Beckham above Antonio Brown's $17 million per year as the league's highest-paid receiver.
At draft time, I advocated for the Giants to trade Beckham if they could get a big return. That didn't happen, so it now makes sense for New York to keep him at least for this season and hope he stays focused and healthy after missing 12 games last year with an ankle injury. That should mean the return of the player who averaged 96 catches, 1,374 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns per season over his first three years in the NFL while making three Pro Bowls. With No. 2 overall draft pick Saquon Barkley in the backfield, the Giants’ offense is set up with a terrific one-two punch.
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The team's big worry: If Beckham signs a mega-bucks extension, will he then revert to the player who has been a distraction while bringing much angst to Big Blue?
Gettleman's expectation and directive in completing this deal has to be that Beckham must mature. The WR can be in the limelight only on the basis of his great talent and highlight-reel catches; or for attending offseason gala events, where he can feed his ego by being visible without embarrassing the organization.
No more Miami boat trips with extensive partying the week before a playoff game. No more photos of Beckham in a Paris hotel room where drugs appear to be present. No more ego-driven spats on the field with cornerbacks like Josh Norman.
It's a tall order for an emotional player who likes to party and hang out with celebrities … which gets us back to the structure of the contract.
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If I were in Gettleman’s shoes, I would offer Beckham $72 million over four additional years while keeping his $8.5 million salary for this year intact. (With a large signing bonus, his cash this year would substantially increase.) The player and agent could claim that, in new money at $18 million per year, Beckham would be the NFL's highest-paid receiver. From the Giants’ perspective, Beckham in total would be paid $80.5 million over five years, an average $16.1 million per year, less than the earnings of Brown and Mike Evans ($16.5 million per year).
I would guarantee $48 million in Beckham’s deal, the same 67 percent guaranteed in Evans' contract with the Buccaneers. I also would guarantee this season, the last of Beckham’s rookie contract, at $8.5 million. That would take the total guarantee to $56.5 million, which would top Evans' $55 million guarantee.
Beckham's camp is likely seeking $20 million per year, and the Giants don't want to go that high. A reasonable settlement would be $77 million in new money, or $19.25 per year for the four extension years (2019-22). Including this season's $8.5 million, that would take Beckham’s total to $85.5 million. The resulting $17.1 million in average salary would place Beckham above Brown.
If necessary to close the deal, I would give Beckham a $3 million escalator in the final year of the contract if he makes three Pro Bowls from 2018-21 and the Giants make the playoffs at least twice over those four years. That would bring his extension to $80 million, and given that level of performance, Beckham would be worth the money. The deal should be affordable for the Giants with salary cap increases over the next few years. Plus, the 37-year-old Manning should be retired by 2021 or ’22, so New York likely will have a cheaper starting QB.
As part of the compensation to get to those numbers, I would include a $500,000 annual offseason workout bonus to make sure Beckham is present for those nine weeks. I also would include $500,000 each season in per-game roster bonuses ($31,250 per game). With a player who missed most of last season, the roster bonuses form a minor protection mechanism for the Giants if Beckham can't play due to injury. Stefon Diggs' new Vikings extension reportedly has a similar clause.
I also think it's critical that the contract includes major give-back of signing bonus if Beckham is ever suspended for on- or off-field incidents. I always included such language and made it more penal for players with a history of trouble.
I've been an NFL general manager negotiating a contract that will make a player the highest paid at his position (or close to it). In Minnesota, I did it with Randall McDaniel, Chris Doleman, Cris Carter and John Randle — all Hall of Famers, so those deals worked out. In Tennessee, I did it with Eddie George and Steve McNair — multiple-time Pro Bowlers. All of those were lower-risk deals since there were few injury concerns and virtually no off-field issues.
I took on a much higher risk factor, though, when I made Robert Smith one of the NFL’s highest-paid running backs after he had missed most of two seasons with ACL injuries early in his career. That was the most anxiety-ridden deal I ever did. Fortunately, it worked out. Smith had several great seasons after signing his big contract in 1998. And with him, I didn't have to worry about behavioral issues.
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I never had to negotiate a major contract with a superstar player who carried the double whammy of an injury history and off-field misbehavior. So with Beckham, if this long-term marriage of player and team is consummated, Gettleman and Mara will be nervous about whether they made the right decision. They will be holding their breath for the length of the contract, hoping for several Pro Bowls, playoff seasons and good behavior from Beckham in order to reward their leap of faith.
That's life as a pro sports team executive, completing deals and hoping they don't blow up due to career-altering injuries or bad behavior, anything that could deter a player from reaching his peak performance on a consistent basis.
Jeff Diamond is a former president of the Titans and former vice president/general manager of the Vikings. He was selected NFL Executive of the Year in 1998. Diamond is currently a business and sports consultant who also does broadcast and online media work. He makes speaking appearances to corporate/civic groups and college classes on Negotiation and Sports Business/Sports Management. He is the former chairman and CEO of The Ingram Group. Follow Jeff on Twitter: @jeffdiamondNFL.
