Jon Beason, Giants Working to Restructure Contract

New York Giants middle linebacker Jon Beason said on Sirius XM NFL Radio Wednesday that he knows he will have to accept a pay cut to remain with the team, and that he and the Giants are "trying to come to terms."

"I want to be a Giant," he said on SiriusXM NFL Radio on Wednesday morning. "They took a chance on me when other people may have thought that I was done. You want to go out and hold up your end of the bargain. When healthy I still feel I'm the best in the business and no one can keep up with me."

Beason, acting as his own agent, got a three-year, $17 million contract from the Giants a year ago, $6.03 of which was guaranteed. His cap number for 2015 is $6.691 and after playing only four games in 2014 due to foot and toe injuries he knows he will need to forego some of that money to remain with the Giants.

"They're doing the best they can to try to be fair under the situation and as a so-called agent I'm doing the best I can to make sure I get the opportunity to earn some of that money back," Beason said. "What you hate is that you get penalized for what happened in 2014 when it's no longer in anyone's control. But if you do go out and you play well and you make the Pro Bowl, the guys win the Super Bowl, you make the playoffs, to take less money than what you were scheduled to earn is tough because you no longer have that opportunity to hit that benchmark. That's the nature of the game."

If the sides can't come to an agreement the Giants could release the 30-year-old linebacker, whom they acquired from the Carolina Panthers in a 2013 midseason trade. That would save the team about $2.8 million against the cap.

"Unfortunately when you're making more than league [minimum], you're susceptible to having to take a pay cut based on injury,'' Beason said. "A lot of that has to do with leverage. What I learned is you can't take it personal that the team is going to come after you to get money back based on an injury because the other 31 other teams are on the same page. It's the nature of the business, it's not personal, because the other 31 employers would all do the same thing. You kind of learn that. At the same time, staying in the game and getting to play is ultimately what you want, and they know that.

"I've learned to be a business professional about it and try to keep the emotion away from it. I truly, truly love to show up and play because I love to compete, and ultimately I want to leave this game with a ring on my finger.''

Beason is due a $1.525 million roster bonus on March 15. You have to think any revised contract will be in place before then.