Odell Beckham Jr.’s NFL payday could have been even bigger.
That’s according to former receiver Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson, who believes injuries kept the mercurial wideout from making NFL history.
“Listen, man, that’s that boy,” Johnson told former Panthers quarterback Cam Newton on the debut episode of their “Uno & Ocho Show.”
“I wish we could rewind back the time and he never gotten hurt. I think ‘O’ might have been the first $200 million deal. He does more than just play football. He’s bigger than that.”
As it stands now, Beckham signed a one-year, $15 million deal with the Ravens this offseason as he attempts to come back from a knee injury sustained during the Rams’ Super Bowl win in 2022.
The LSU product seemed destined for stardom with his highlight-reel catches in his early days with the Giants — and he earned an early payday to go with it: a five-year, $95 million deal with Big Blue starting in 2018.
Things quickly spiraled for Beckham, however, as he was traded from the Giants to the Browns in 2019 and missed most of the 2020 season with a torn ACL.
Upon returning to the Browns after the knee injury, Beckham grew unhappy with his role on the team, getting released in November 2021 after his father complained about the receiver’s usage on the field in a social media post.
He went on to join the Rams, playing a key role in their Super Bowl run — though he tore his ACL in the title game.
Beckham’s recovery saw a number of teams vying for his services last season, though he was unable to agree to terms with anyone until the Ravens courted him this spring.
There is hope he can return to the Pro Bowl form he showed with the Giants in his first three seasons — and it’s not just coming from the Baltimore offense.
“I worked out with him,” Newton said. “He has the best — and you know as a receiver, the importance tracking the ball — let me tell you, his tracking ability it’s like a radar, as soon as the ball comes off your hand [whistles] You can see him finding that and how it’s spinning and how it dictates. Him practicing that one-hand catch … it’s poetic.”
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