Giants Co-Owner John Mara: Odell Beckham Will Get Paid

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — “He deserves to get paid.”

New York Giants’ co-owner John Mara made it clear on Friday that he understands that Odell Beckham Jr. is worthy of a big, long-term contract, and that the Giants intend to give him.

“We have enough money in the bank,” Mara joked.

That doesn’t mean the Giants will do a deal with him now — negotiations, aside from the media chatter, haven’t even begun.

“He deserves to get paid. We’re gonna pay him. It’s just a question of when in terms of the contract,” Mara said.

Highest-Paid Player?

You can probably forget the idea of Beckham being the NFL’s highest-paid player. Beckham this week used a video platform to say he wanted that distinction. He reiterated that on Friday.

“Probably every player would like to be the highest-paid player in the game. I’m not going to lose any sleep over that,” Mara said. “We’ll get the contract done at the appropriate time. Sooner rather than later, but there’s no time table on it. There’s no reason for us to rush into it.”

Whatever deal the sides come to, it seems extremely unlikely to make Beckham the game’s top-paid player.

Mara said “I can’t think of” a scenario where that would happen. “Quarterback is always going to be the highest-paid player.”

Patience, Everybody

Beckham said Friday that he would be patient in waiting for deal to come on “God’s timing.” He said that was all he could do. Mara also said patience was needed.

“That’s the same way we feel about it,” Mara said. “There’s no reason to rush into this, he’s going to get paid a lot of money at the appropriate time. You can argue that the appropriate time is now, but you can argue both sides on that.”

Odell Has Nothing To Prove

There is a theory that the Giants will wait a year to make Beckham prove that he took seriously GM Jerry Reese’s comments at the end of last season that he needed to grow up, and that he is doing so. Mara scoffed at that idea:

“He’s just gotta keep doing what he’s doing and keep playing. Listen, he’s going to get a long-term contract. We’re not asking him to prove anything at this point. Just keep playing as hard as you can play and continue your growth off the field as a person,” Mara said. “I’m confident he’s going to do both. He’s a very smart young man, very talented player … he does so many wonderful things off the field that nobody knows about.”