The $65 million in guarantees included in Odell Beckham Jr.’s new contract is the most any NFL wide receiver has ever received
With the O’Jays’ ‘For the Love of Money’ blaring in the background, New York Giants star Odell Beckham Jr. was seen on Twitter Monday celebrating his new contract at the team facility in New Jersey after becoming the highest-paid wide receiver in NFL history.
Beckham agreed to a five-year extension worth up to $95 million, according to multiple reports Monday. The deal is worth $90 million in base value, with an additional $5 million available through incentives. The contract includes $65 million guaranteed for injury and $41 million fully guaranteed at signing. According to NFL Network, the deal averages $20 million over the first three seasons.
The $65 million in guarantees is the most any NFL wideout has ever received.
The annual average ($19 million) and guaranteed money are both records among wide receivers, eclipsing Antonio Brown ($17 million annually) and Mike Evans ($55 million guarantee), respectively.
Fellow Giants wideouts Sterling Shepard and Roger Lewis each posted videos on social media of Beckham and teammates dancing in celebration in the Giants’ locker room.
Teammate Sterling Shepard (left) provided the tunes (the O’Jays’ ‘For the Love of Money’) and the camera as Beckham celebrated his new $95 million on Twitter at the Giants’ facility
Odell Beckham Jr. has yet to play this preseason, but he is expected to be fully ready for the September 9 regular-season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars
Beckham, 25, was scheduled to make just under $8.5 million in 2018, on the fifth-year option of his rookie contract. The sides opened negotiations in late July and have steadily made progress since. Beckham has routinely told reporters he expected the situation to work itself out.
A first-round pick in 2014, Beckham racked up 288 catches for 4,122 yards and 35 scores through his first three seasons, all Pro Bowl campaigns. He collected 25 grabs for 302 yards and three touchdowns in four games last season before suffering a season-ending broken ankle.
The annual average of Beckham’s new deal ($19 million) eclipses the previous receiver record set by Steelers star Antonio Brown ($17 million annually)
Beckham has yet to play this preseason, but he is expected to be fully ready for the September 9 regular-season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The ankle injury occurred when Beckham landed awkwardly under Chargers cornerback Casey Howard in October.
At the time of Beckham’s injury, Giants captain Eli Manning could be seen grimacing as the crying LSU product was carted off the field.
Over the course of Beckham’s turbulent off-season the All-Pro was seen in a seven-second video with what appeared to be illicit drugs.
Laura Cuenca, the 21-year-old French model who appears with Beckham in the scandalous video, denied the accusation that drugs are present in the clip.
‘People say that we did drugs, but no way. No way,’ she told the New York Post. ‘[Beckham] was completely against that.’
She asserts that Beckham was holding onto ‘a piece of pizza’ and not a blunt.
The $65 million in guarantees included in Beckham’s deal is the most any NFL wideout has ever received, breaking the previous mark set by Tampa Bay’s Mike Evans ($55 million guaranteed)