Giants owner admires Odell Beckham's top-paid aim

Odell Beckham made it clear Thursday that he wants to be the highest-paid player in football.

That played just fine with Giants co-owner John Mara, who supported on Friday the wide receiver's case for significantly increased compensation, but made sure to remain vague on when Beckham's pay day was coming.

"I think everybody wants to be the highest-paid player. That's a great goal to have," Mara told reporters in an off-camera session, per NFL Network's Kimberly Jones. "He's going to get a long-term contract. He doesn't need to prove anything.

"He deserves to get paid. We're going to pay him. It's just a question of when."

Mara added that talks on a new deal haven't started and doesn't know when they'll start. The owner said that it's "a possibility" that Beckham will have a new deal by the start of next year's camp.

The Giants picked up Beckham's fifth-year option this offseason, which means OBJ is under contract in East Rutherford through 2018. This gives Giants ownership, general manager Jerry Reese and Giants brass a lot of breathing room to craft a long-term deal that works for both sides.

Theoretically, Beckham could hold out for a new deal, as Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald -- who was selected one pick after Beckham in the 2014 draft -- did on Friday. However, the wideout told reporters he is not interested in engaging in a holdout or diving too much into contract details.

"I don't have time [to hold out]," Beckham said. "I'm 24 years old. I'm trying to play football until I can't play football anymore. I can't get caught up taking days and not playing."

The wideout added: "I'm not here to hold out. I'm here to practice. I'm here to get better each and every day. I feel I have stuff I can improve on, stuff I need to work on, and really stuff I'm willing to work on."

After signing the most lucrative shoe deal in football history, Beckham is in a far different place financially than most players trying to earn a second contract. But by setting his goals as high as he has, the wideout has created a landmark, feasible or not, toward which negotiations for him -- and his fellow skill players -- could move in the future.

For now, Beckham and Mara are putting off any future contract standoff and instead looking toward reaching a common, maybe more realistic goal than "$26 million annually": Lombardi.