NFC Notes: Odell Beckham Jr, Cowboys, Giants

Odell Beckham

• CBS Sports analyst and former agent Joel Corry looks at what a potential deal for WR Odell Beckham Jr. could look like. Beckham reportedly wants a multi-year deal and is aware of the big contracts other receivers signed this offseason. Corry points out his age and injury history will cap Beckham’s market, however, and it’s unreasonable to expect $20 million a year or even the $15.5 million a year the Rams gave WR Allen Robinson.
• One report indicated Beckham thought the $11.5 million a year deal signed by Cowboys WR Michael Gallup was a comparable target. Corry thinks that’s a fair target, with incentives that could push the total value of the deal in the range of Robinson. 
• Prorating Gallup’s salary to the remainder of 2022 would mean $3.8 million in compensation, most of which could be in a signing bonus to help fit Beckham onto a team’s cap this year. Corry adds Beckham likely would want 2023 to be guaranteed as well, but he’ll need multiple teams bidding on him to be able to get that. 
• While teams would be hesitant to guarantee anything for Beckham in 2024, Corry thinks guarantees contingent on Beckham hitting certain statistical thresholds in 2023 could be a good compromise. For instance, Beckham could have 12.5 percent of his 2024 salary guaranteed for hitting markers of 50, 60, 70 and 80 catches and 600, 700, 800 and 900 yards. 
• Corry writes other teams could push for big per-game roster bonuses to help protect them if Beckham gets hurt again or declines and it’s likely a concession he’ll have to make. 

Cowboys

Regarding the Cowboys passing on Vikings WR Justin Jefferson in the 2020 NFL Draft to select CeeDee Lamb, HC Mike McCarthy said that Lamb was his favorite receiver in the draft class. 

“CeeDee was my favorite of the group, and he was right there,” McCarthy said, via NFL.com. “I love the way the guy played. See, I like guys that can play inside and outside, and they do something else, too. Like CeeDee, you can put him in the backfield. And Jefferson, Destrehan High School, I mean I just, knowing the kid’s background — multi-sports athlete — I’m not surprised at all he’s having the success he’s having, so we were very, very impressed with him. We thought we had him high, higher than most people on the board, so when he went after that was no surprise.”

McCarthy added that they were hopeful Jefferson would fall farther than No. 22 overall in the 2020 draft in order to potentially trade up for him. 

“He’s one of those guys you sit there and hope because, you know, after you draft CeeDee, you’re hoping he falls a little bit so you can try to have a chance to go up and get him too, but that obviously didn’t last long,” McCarthy said of Jefferson. “Helluva player.”

Giants

It’s easy to look at the job Giants HC Brian Daboll is doing in his first year in New York and wonder why it took so long for him to get a head coaching job. But Daboll says his long experience, first as a failed offensive coordinator a decade ago and then rejuvenated in recent years at Alabama and in Buffalo, prepared him for this moment. 

“I’m very grateful it took so long now,” Daboll said via the Athletic’s Dan Pompei. “I was blessed to be a part of some really great teams. And I’m almost as thankful for some of the challenges I’ve had in my career, where I’ve had to learn how to deal with adversity, losses and criticism because you get that every day in this chair. Those things help me more than some of the successes I’ve been a part of.”