By any account, Odell Beckham Jr. has had a successful NFL career. The 30-year-old took the league by storm in his debut season in 2014, winning the league’s Offensive Rookie of the Year award while making his first of three consecutive Pro Bowls with the Giants. He won a Super Bowl title with the Rams and has made a life-changing amount of money—though, by at least on former All-Pro wide receiver’s account, he could have made even more had injuries not sidetracked his trajectory.
Former Bengals great Chad Johnson said on his podcast with former league MVP Cam Newton—the Uno & Ocho Show—that Beckham could have made history by earning the first $200 million contract for a wide receiver in league history.
“I wish we could rewind back the time and he never gotten hurt. I think [Beckham] might have been the first $200 million deal,” Johnson said, per the New York Post. “He does more than just play football. He’s bigger than that.”
Beckham signed a one-year deal with the Ravens this offseason worth $15 million guaranteed and up to $18 million with incentives. After Wednesday’s practice, Beckham was asked about Johnson’s claims, and similarly wondered what could have been had he not suffered multiple severe injuries, which include a fractured ankle in 2017 and two torn ACLs in ’20 and ’21, the latter of which cost him the entire ’22 season.
I asked Odell Beckham Jr. his thoughts about the clip of @ochocinco saying that OBJ could have been the first $200M guy in the NFL if not for injury.
— Rocco DiSangro (@RoccoDiSangro) August 16, 2023
"I would have loved to seen what would have happened in my career if I had never been hurt."
His full response 👇 #RavensFlock pic.twitter.com/ZvxBk4lAA4
“I’ve seen it, and I hate the ‘coulda, woulda, shoulda.’ … I don’t know about $200 million. I would have definitely loved to have it,” Beckham said. “But I would have loved to have seen what would have happened in my career if I had never been hurt. But, I think God placed this journey for me to be here specifically, to be exactly who I am today. The adversity I’ve been through will allow me to, later on in life when things hit, I think I’ll able to handle it a little better.”
