Denver Broncos linebacker Von Miller believes that New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. deserves to be the highest-paid player in the NFL. Not just the highest-paid wide receiver, the highest-paid player, period.
Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com reports that Miller recently advocated for Odell to be the league's highest-paid player, despite his season-ending ankle injury.
Ahead of Sunday night's matchup between the Broncos and the depleted Giants, Miller said,
"Odell (Beckham) should be the highest-paid player ever in the National Football League. 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, 24, underwent surgery earlier this week after suffering a fractured ankle in the Giants' Week 5 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. NY picked up Beckham's fifth-year option for 2018, when Beckham is scheduled to make $8.4 million, much more than the $1.8 million he's due this season.
However, Beckham is still drastically underpaid when it comes to the league's other top offensive weapons, like Steelers' wideout Antonio Brown who is averaging $17 million per year on his four-year, $68 million contract. According to Spotrac, Beckham won't be an unrestricted free agency until 2019.
Prior to the start of the season, OBJ opened up about "the elephant in the room" and how he wants to be the highest-paid player in the NFL, as Von Miller recently suggested.
“It’s like the elephant in the room and you don’t want to talk about it,’’ Beckham said in a video posted on uninterrupted.com. “I’ve gotten to a point in my life where I’m like, there’s no need to not talk about it. I believe that I will be, hopefully not just the highest-paid receiver in the league, but the highest paid, period.”
