The New York Giants agreed to terms with Odell Beckham, Jr. on a five-year mega-deal on Monday, making him the highest paid wide receiver in NFL history. The deal can max out at $95 million, and includes $65 million guaranteed and $41 million of that full guaranteed. He can make $60 million over the first three years of the deal.
Beckham chose not to hold out, and he and the Giants were able to work out a deal that could pay him up to $19 million per year. He is unlikely to earn the full amount on this deal, in part because it will likely be renegotiated at some point. But even still, well done for Odell.
OBJ is one of the best wide receivers in the NFL, and one of the most skilled in recent memory. Even still, I find it interesting to compare his deal with what the San Francisco 49ers are currently paying their wide receivers. We don’t know who will be the sixth wide receiver quite yet, but let’s posit that the 49ers keep Pierre Garçon, Marquise Goodwin, Trent Taylor, Dante Pettis, Kendrick Bourne, and Richie James. If that’s the group, their current contracts total $79,559,082. They break down as follows:
Garçon: $47,500,000
Goodwin: $18,850,000
Taylor: $2,601,948
Pettis: $6,400,562
Bourne: $1,670,000
James: $2,536,572
I think most anybody would love to have Beckham on the roster, but I like what the 49ers can potentially do with this receiver group. Garçon is the most known name, while Goodwin was the breakout player last year — not exactly high profile options. And yet, I suspect the 49ers get a solid amount of production from this group. Taylor proved himself as a third down threat, while I could see the coaching staff moving Dante Pettis all around the field. Kendrick Bourne emerged as an intriguing option last year, but Richie James is the really interesting piece of the puzzle. I suspect Kyle Shanahan does whatever he can to get James the ball in space.
Again, this is not to say I wouldn’t take Odell Beckham on the roster. But I think the 49ers could be looking at some tremendous value for this group.