The Giants aren’t going to get anything else out of Odell Beckham Jr. the rest of this season.
But one of his peers believes they should put plenty into him before next year.
Via Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com, Broncos outside linebacker Von Miller said he believes the Giants wide receiver still deserves to be the league’s highest-paid player when he comes back.
“Odell should be the highest-paid player ever in the National Football League,” Miller said. “He should be the highest-paid player ever, regardless of position. That’s just the type of player he is. It doesn’t matter if it’s quarterback, offensive line, receiver. It doesn’t matter. The type of impact that he has on the globe, the type of viewers that he brings — just him as a player. That makes up for him not playing quarterback. So, he’s a once-in-a-lifetime player. Definitely deserving.
“There’s no reason that he won’t come back and be the same type of player. That’s just one of the guys that you invest in. When you get a guy like that, that’s the guy that you invest in, that you want to keep around for his whole career.”
Beckham said this summer he wants to be the highest-paid player in the league, which could make the pending negotiations difficult for the Giants. The Giants seem to understand they’re going to have to cough up plenty of bucks, though owner John Mara knows that the positional bias will likely keep Beckham from taking the top spot on any salary list.
Miller has spoken to Beckham since he had surgery Monday to repair a broken ankle, and Miller knows first-hand about coming back from injury.
A torn ACL in 2013 didn’t prevent him from getting 14.5 sacks in 2014 and winning a Super Bowl MVP after the 2015 season.
“I talked to him, and it’s just a tough situation,” Miller said. “Every elite player in the National Football League has to overcome some type of injury once or twice in their career. The type of person that Odell is — I know him personally, so I know that he’s going to come back even stronger and better.”
Miller got his payday after his injury. And he clearly thinks Beckham deserves a special one after his.