It took more than a year but Odell Beckham Jr. has finally landed with his next team. He’s signing with the Baltimore Ravens, earning a one-year contract that will pay him up to $18 million.
When the initial contract was released, the words “up to” were important to note. It seemed like a deal that would be incentive-filled, considering Beckham hasn’t played in over a year. But the Ravens aren’t exactly getting a bargain with Beckham.
According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, Beckham got a $13.835 million signing bonus and has a base salary of $1.165 million for a total of $15 million guaranteed. He can earn another $3 million in incentives, potentially bringing it up to $18 million in total value.
More details on Odell Beckham Jr.‘s one-year deal with the #Ravens:
$13.835 million signing bonus
$1.165 million base salary
$3M in reachable incentivesSo OBJ will make at least $15 million and as much as $18M on the deal negotiated by agent Zeke Sandhu. https://t.co/z6S8tkjvP1
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) April 9, 2023
The Rams have wanted Beckham back since he hit free agency last year, but they would’ve been unwise to give him the contract Baltimore did. It’s not that Beckham isn’t a talented player. We all saw during the Rams’ Super Bowl run the type of impact he can have as a wide receiver, not only thanks to his ability to make defenders miss in the open field, but create separation and easy throws for his quarterback.
It’s just that the Rams aren’t in a position for luxury signings, and that’s what Beckham would’ve been. They have Cooper Kupp, Van Jefferson and Allen Robinson, which is a perfectly capable receiver group when healthy. Unfortunately, none of the three was for the entire 2022 season. Tutu Atwell is waiting in the wings, and there’s still the draft.
The Rams could find much better ways to spend $15 million at other positions besides receiver, needing to focus their attention on the pass rush and secondary – which are much thinner than the wideout group.
There’s also the fact that Beckham is coming off the second torn ACL in his left knee and hasn’t played football in 14 months. His first ACL procedure was so bad that the second surgery he had actually fixed some of the issues from the first.
Torn ACLs are not minor injuries, even if players are coming back from them more quickly than ever. Beckham wisely didn’t rush his way back onto the field, but there’s still plenty of concern that he won’t be the same player after having his knee repaired for the second time.
The Rams likely would’ve gone on to regret giving him $15 million guaranteed, given the current state of their roster and the other positional needs they have.
