Giants' Beckham strives to be highest paid

Jul 28, 2017 - 10:03 PM EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. has set quite a lofty goal for himself.

"I believe," he said in an UNINTERRUPTED video, "that I will be hopefully not just the highest-paid receiver in the league, but the highest paid, period."

The timing of Beckham's desire is a bit odd considering last month when he met the media for the first time since the Giants' playoff loss to Green Bay, Beckham insisted that he wasn't worried about his contract and that everything would ultimately take care of itself.

Yet there he was, in a video recorded Monday that was released to coincide with the Giants' opening of training camp, speaking to the contrary.

"It's like the elephant in the room, and you don't want to talk about it," Beckham said to the camera. "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.'"

The day after that video aired, Beckham took to the podium to answer more questions about his thinking in making his feelings known and if he thought he might be a distraction to his teammates.

"I mean, everything is a distraction that I do," Beckham said. "Anything that goes on is going to be a distraction. Me speaking my mind about a question that was asked by a company that I work with, it's a different story."

When he said that his contract situation wasn't up to him, he was then asked why he even bothered to go there with his stream of thought.

"It's just kind of the goals and aspirations that I have," he said, while stressing several times that his musings about his contract was just a small part of the three-minute long video.

He then tried to stress that his talk about wanting to be the highest paid player in the NFL wasn't about him personally, but rather for all his NFL brethren, whose compensation pales by comparison to that of the NBA superstars, who enjoy fully guaranteed contracts.

"That's what you want to do, you want to change the game," Beckham said. "This isn't for me. This isn't for Odell Beckham. This is for everyone in the league. People who deserve it.

"The people in the NFL, we deserve that," said Beckham, referencing the type of deals players in the NBA receive. "If I can, I want to be on the forefront for it. Help push the league, the game that way, because I feel like the players deserve it. We go through a lot, we put ourselves through a lot mentally, physically, emotionally."

Giants co-owner John Mara has said numerous times that he would like to see Beckham remain a Giant for life. However, general manager Jerry Reese and Mara have both indicated that there have been no discussions yet with Beckham's representatives regarding a new deal.

Beckham is scheduled to make $1.8 million in the fourth year of his contract. The Giants have already picked up the option year for next season, which would boost Beckham's earnings to $8.45 million absent a new deal.

If the two sides can't reach a new contract, the Giants could still retain Beckham's rights through 2020 if they were to franchise him through the end of the current NFL-NFLPA CBA. However, such a move would prove costly for a team that at least for the foreseeable future might have a bit of a cap crunch.

One thing would appear certain, and that is it's highly unlikely the Giants will give Beckham a new deal this season. New York is listed as having $7.574 million in cap space, according to NFLPA records, a paltry amount considering they have to leave themselves some breathing room in the event of in-season emergencies.

Reese, as he usually does when pressed for details on the team's thinking, told reporters during his annual camp press briefing that the team will "keep all its options open" and that he didn't want to get into specifics regarding any player contracts.

However, Mara, who spoke to reporters following the team's first training camp practice, said that it's just a matter of time before Beckham gets his big pay day, though he emphasized that there is no timetable for that to happen right now.

"He deserves to be paid," Mara said, reiterating that the team has yet to open discussions with Beckham's agents. "And we're going to pay him."