Sometimes, a team pays a player top dollar because, in comparison to offers made by other teams, it had no choice. Sometimes, a team pays top dollar for other reasons.
In the case of the one-year, $15 million contract with up to $3 million in incentives paid by the Ravens to receiver Odell Beckham Jr., it appears the Ravens paid top dollar for other reasons.
The offer wasn’t aimed at beating the offer the Jets had made or would be making. Per a league source with knowledge of the situation, the Jets were contemplating a low base coupled with a high upside. They were basically hoping for a bargain-basement deal. The Ravens blocked that opportunity by blowing the market away with an offer far exceeding whatever the Jets or anyone else was willing to pay.
So why did they do it? Here are some ideas.
First, the Ravens have had a hard time persuading receivers to choose to play for an offense predicated on the run. To get someone like Beckham to choose Baltimore, the Ravens needed to come to the table with real money -- despite red flags including age (31 in November) and injury history (two ACL tears in the same knee, since October 2020).
Second, the Ravens have been accused by some of being responsible for the absence of a long-term contract with quarterback Lamar Jackson. Signing Beckham, who had been consistently declining lesser offers, shows that the Ravens know how to sign an elite player to a more-than-fair deal. Did they overpay OBJ to prove a point? Maybe they did. The message is that the contract shows they know how to make a great player an offer he won’t refuse.
Third, with the Ravens unable to get Jackson to say “yes” to any and all contract offers, Beckham becomes a potentially viable piece of the puzzle. His mere presence can work as a magnet for Jackson, making him naturally want to sign a contract so that he can be present to work with Beckham, in the offseason program (if OBJ is there) or in training camp.
Beyond simply being there, Beckham can try to persuade Jackson to do what he has to do in order to do a deal, whether that means getting him to hire an agent or simply getting him to understand what it takes to get a deal done. Perhaps Beckham could even work as a liaison between Jackson and the Ravens.
Regardless, it seems as if the Ravens went well above and beyond the market dynamics to sign Beckham. And it seems as if they had a reason for it. Possibly, multiple reasons. And if it results in Jackson signing a long-term deal, it will have been money well spent.
