How costly will an Odell Beckham Jr. trade be for the Giants?
The New York Giants are morphing into Saquon Barkley’s team, and the alpha Odell Beckham Jr. could be on the move this offseason. But at what cost?
Odell Beckham Jr. is one of the best wide receivers in the NFL, and he’s also one of the leagues’ biggest personalities.
Though the New York Giants have been adamant they are not trading him in public, people ‘in the know’ have been predicting they will let some team take him off their hands for a fair deal for quite some time.
One of the leading voices in the ‘Giants are trading Beckham’ camp is Jay Glazer of The Athletic. Glazer is one of the most plugged in guys in the NFL.
There have been other rumors floating around about a number of teams who would like to acquire Beckham, and it makes sense. Beckham is 26, highly productive, and a mismatch every time he’s on the field.
Any team that would want to trade for Beckham would be acquiring the remainder of his base salaries. In 2019, Beckham will cost $16.75 million. After 2019, here are his base salary figures on the contract he recently signed with the Giants:
2020: $14 million
2021: $14.5 million
2022: $13.75 million
2023: $13.75 million
Those are really favorable numbers for a trading team. For the Giants? Trading Beckham is not an easy pill to swallow.
They would have to eat $35.5 million in dead cap, including $16 million in 2019.
If some team comes calling with at least a first-round pick, though? Why not?
The Giants are going to be building around their new alpha, Saquon Barkley, for the foreseeable future. It would be a shame if things wouldn’t be able to work out with Beckham after he just signed his new contract, but things appear to be heading in that direction.
If the Giants split with Beckham and it’s something he’s amenable do, perhaps he would be willing to re-do his contract with them to help facilitate a trade. $35.5 million in dead money is an exceptionally high number for one player.
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There has been no indication that Beckham is demanding a trade from the Giants, but things just might not be working out. If the two sides can find a way to work together, that would be the best for both parties, but if a team will pay the price, they might be able to convince the Giants to pay a high price as well.