Aug 272018
 
Odell Beckham, Jr., New York Giants (August 17, 2018)

Odell Beckham, Jr. – © USA TODAY Sports

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NEW YORK GIANTS AND ODELL BECKHAM SIGN 5-YEAR, $95 MILLION EXTENSION…
The New York Giants officially announced today that they have signed wide receiver Odell Beckham, Jr. to a 5-year contract extension (six years total), locking up the All-Pro receiver through the 2023 season. The NFL Network is reporting that the deal is a 5-year, $95 million contract extension that includes $65 million in guaranteed money. The contract makes Beckham the highest paid wide receiver in football.

Beckham had one year left on his rookie contract and was scheduled to make $8.459 million in salary in 2018. According to ESPN, the new agreement lowers Beckham’s salary to $1.459 million with a $20 million signing bonus, “saving” about $3 million against the 2018 salary cap.

“It’s a five-year extension, six years total,” said General Manager Dave Gettleman. “We got him until he’s 108. I never worried whether or not we would get it done. I’m pleased, because the litmus test for a contract is that neither side is ticked off before the ink can dry, and neither side should be ticked off. It’s a very fair deal.

“I learned a long time ago, you build the team you want. On offense, you got to have a quarterback, you got to have touchdown scorers. On defense, you got to have guys that sack the quarterback. Well, this guy’s a touchdown scorer. He can score from anywhere on the field, which is huge.”

“Honestly, I don’t even know how to explain it,” Beckham said. “I don’t know if it’s a relief, I don’t know – it’s a combination of everything. You’ve worked all your life to get to this point and it’s finally here. I have to thank Mr. Mara, Steve Tisch, Mr. Gettleman, coach (Pat) Shurmur, Eli (Manning), all the guys I played with in the past years. Everybody was really a part of this – my mom, my dad, my family, everybody who was supporting me through this. It’s just such an amazing feeling, I can’t even explain. Most importantly, I have to thank God for being able to put me back together mentally, physically, spiritually. This is just truly amazing; I don’t even know the right words to describe. It was just a time of patience and waiting and I knew that it would get done, it just was a matter of when and I’m just so happy that it is finally done now.”

While a super-productive football player, Beckham has had his ups and downs on and off the football field.

“As I have said, I think Odell personally is moving in the right direction,” said Giants President and CEO John Mara. “He came to camp with a tremendous attitude, with a smile on his face and worked hard and reminded us of his unique abilities. He’s ready to have a great season and we’re ready for him to have a great season.”

“It was not a distraction because of the way we handled it,” Gettleman said. “The way he handled it, the way we handled it. I was thrilled when he spoke to the media at training camp. I was thrilled he said it’ll get done when it gets done, because that’s what it is. You can’t force things, it’s a negotiation. It’s a back and forth, both sides have to be intentional and thoughtful, which we were. It was great negotiating, it was a very good give and take with Kevin (Abrams, the assistant general manager) and Zeke (Sandhu, Beckham’s agent). We got to the right answer as far as I’m concerned.”

“It’s a great day for our franchise and our fans,” said Giants Chairman and Executive Vice President Steve Tisch. “I am excited about our future, especially with Odell and Eli and their teammates operating in Pat’s (Shurmur) offense. We have seen Odell grow. His enthusiasm and work ethic are contagious, and my hope for him and for us – and I know he feels the same – is for him to be remembered as one of the great Giants of all time.”

Beckham says he is excited about the team moving forward and that the money will not change the way he approaches the game.

“The offense seems to be amazing,” said Beckham. “I feel like we’re going to be able to put up a lot of points and do it in a bunch of different ways. We have so many explosive playmakers on this team. Evan Engram, (Sterling) Shep(ard), Cody (Latimer), Saquon (Barkley). The O-line is playing at a high level, they look very together, and it’s time for Eli to bring us home. It’s time for him to bring us back to what we all dream of doing, which is winning a Super Bowl, so the goals are never going to change, it’s just that time to go is now.

“This just kind of secures you and your family, and the ones that are going to come along after you in your family. For me, it’s not going to change my goals that I have on the field. If anything, it just increased them even more. I just want to be able to come out and play football the way that I’ve always played, the way that I love it and have some of my best years that I’ve ever had in my entire life. This is nothing but more motivation to go even harder and to do even better.”

NEW YORK GIANTS INJURY REPORT…
Not practicing on Monday due to injury were linebacker Olivier Vernon (ankle), tight end Evan Engram (concussion), offensive guard Nick Gates (foot), defensive end R.J. McIntosh (unknown), and safety Darian Thompson (hamstring).

Linebacker Calvin Munson (concussion) practiced but was still wearing a red, non-contact jersey. Linebacker Connor Barwin (knee) performed in some individual drills.

“(Barwin) was out there today,” said Head Coach Pat Shurmur. “Probably did the most in practice he’s done in a while and so we’ll just see how the knee responded when we go in here this afternoon.”

There are conflicting reports on the severity of Vernon’s ankle injury. One ESPN report claimed said it was a high ankle sprain. Other sources reported it is a deep bruise on the upper part of his ankle.

“Ankle like we talked about yesterday and so he’s day-to-day,” said Shurmur when asked about Vernon… He was checked out. The MRI didn’t show any breaks so he’s just day-to-day with that ankle. He got checked out pretty thoroughly.”

Shurmur said he did not know if it was the same ankle that sidelined Vernon last season for four games.

HEAD COACH PAT SHURMUR…
The transcript of Pat Shurmur’s press conference on Monday is available in The Corner Forum while the video is available at Giants.com.

THE PLAYERS SPEAK…
Transcripts and video clips of the media sessions with the following players are available in The Corner Forum and at Giants.com:

ARTICLES…

WHAT’S UP NEXT…
The players will practice on Tuesday. There is no press availability to the team on Wednesday.

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Eric Kennedy

Eric Kennedy is Editor-in-Chief of BigBlueInteractive.com, a publication of Big Blue Interactive, LLC. Follow @BigBlueInteract on Twitter.

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