Odell Beckham deal not the No. 1 priority for John Mara and Giants
New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. (13) leaves the field after practice during minicamp at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Thursday, June 15, 2017. Credit: Brad Penner
The Giants want to keep wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. in the fold with a new, long-term contract, team president John Mara said Thursday, but that does not necessarily mean it will happen in the immediate or near future.
“There’s always a chance, but it’s not our No. 1 priority right now,” Mara said after appearing with Mike Francesa on WFAN’s 30th anniversary show at Grand Central Terminal. “But we do want to get it done. We have some time to get it done. But I can’t give you a timetable on that.”
Beckham, 24, skipped voluntary team workouts this spring, reportedly with an eye toward pushing the Giants to rework his original contract, which will pay him $1.8 million this season and more than $8 million in 2018.
He did report for the mandatory minicamp and told reporters his absence from voluntary OTAs was not contract related.
Mara said at a fan event earlier this month that he hoped Beckham would be a Giant for the rest of his career. Asked Thursday why he feels that way, Mara laughed and said, “Well, he’s one of the best players in the league, and he makes us a different team when he’s on the field. He puts a lump in the throat of the opposing defense. He’s only 24 years old. And I think he can help us win a championship.”
Mara said he sat down with Beckham in May and had “a very pleasant meeting.”
“I just wanted to catch up with him,” Mara said, “find out what he’d been up to and just talk to him about the process going forward, a little bit about his need to control his emotions and his need to continue to grow and mature, and he’s very receptive to that.
“He knows. He’s a smart young man and he wants to be the best. He wants to win a Super Bowl. I wish we had a dozen more like him.
“He’s 24 and he’s had so much success and is so popular and has so many people pulling at him. It’s going to be a bumpy road from time to time, but I think in the long run he’s going to be fine.”
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
