The Super Bowl hasn't kicked off yet, but we're already in the thick of "who's angling for a new contract?" season.
At the top of the list: Odell Beckham.
The Giants star wideout has held onto some incredibly high expectations for his future compensation, wanting what he's called quarterback money. That number lands around $20 million, which is essentially what Alex Smith is owed in 2018. By comparison, that's at least $3 million more annually than what Antonio Brown makes with his position-leading $17 million per year and more than 10 times what Beckham made in 2017.
That pay raise can buy Beckham a lot of home goods.
"Hopefully to get it done," Beckham said of his mindset about the contract issue Saturday, per NJ.com. "It's that time just to get it over with. I really want to do it so I can move past it.
"It's too much sitting around thinking, 'Where am I going to be at?' I need to know where I can start buying furniture for a house. I want to have a place set where I know, 'OK, this is home. I can always go back to home.' So it's just a little intermediate process right now. I'm sure it will get worked out."
Beckham has a bit of an adjustment period ahead of him, thanks to wholesale changes made within the organization. The receiver has to dive into new head coach Pat Shurmur's playbook while his agent becomes familiar with new GM Dave Gettleman. He also has to complete rehabilitation from ankle surgery.
Giants co-owner John Mara said last week the team would "get something done at the appropriate time" when discussing Beckham's contract. As NFL Network's Mike Garafolo said this week, the two sides aren't close.
Still, though, things are trending positively in New York after a nightmare of a season.
"It was great," Beckham said of his first meeting with Gettleman. "He seems like a straight-shooter. We only met once, but from the conversation you can kind of have an understanding of who a person is. It seems like this is going to be a very fun year."
Fun, as long as the compensation follows. Until then, we wait.
