Odell Beckham Jr. is used to making headlines, but this offseason he's been in the news for the wrong reasons. After a down year in which he missed most of the season with a fractured ankle, and his team went 3-13, Beckham has been a massive headache for his team. He was caught on video in bed with what appeared to be a blunt while the women he was with had a credit card and white powder crushed into lines (regardless of one's position on the substances he appears to be using, a video of him using these substances could lead to him being suspended by the NFL).
After seeing this video Giants owner John Mara said that he was aware of the video and no one was above being traded. Needless to say, the Giants' current relationship with Beckham is rocky at best.
Not one step
Things appear to be taking a turn for the worse. Beckham made it clear last year that he wasn't happy playing on his rookie deal and wanted to be one of the highest paid players in the league. He has now reportedly doubled down on that stance. Good Morning Football has reported that Odell Beckham "will not step foot on a field without a new contract extension agreed to- with the Giants or any other team..." This news combined with the Giants owner essentially saying they were willing to trade him makes it appear that things will get ugly.
Will it work?
Historically players don't have a high success rate when holding out in the NFL as the rules are stacked against them. Teams are able to fine a player for every day that they sit out while under contract and if a player does not play by the 10th game of the season they do not get a year of service. This means that even though Beckham is in the last year of his rookie deal, if he sits out the year he will still be under contract.
On top of that, even if Beckham just plays during the second half of the season in order to get his year of service the Giants can franchise tag him for the next 2 years, forcing him to stay with the team. If the Giants do decide to do this Beckham would not be able to become a free agent until he is 28 years old (and he would turn 29 in the upcoming season).
At that point, teams would likely be wary of paying an aging player with a history of injury, especially when his main selling point is his athleticism.
The Giants have all the leverage in this situation and most likely won't offer an extension, so fans can expect Beckham to be sitting out at the beginning of the season. Unless Beckham is traded to another team, this holdout will likely last at least a couple of games. However, even if the Giants don't pay Beckham, he would most likely be forced to play before hitting the 10-game mark.
