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Lots of players throughout the NFL will be playing for incentives in Week 18.
Odell Beckham Jr. could have been one of those players, but he ultimately will not be, despite being just a few stats away from raking in a nice paycheck.
The Baltimore Ravens clinched the AFC's No. 1 seed, so the team is opting to give Beckham, likely MVP Lamar Jackson, and others a two-week break to be fresh for the AFC divisional round.
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Odell Beckham Jr., #3 of the Baltimore Ravens, carries the ball after a catch against the Cleveland Browns during the third quarter at M&T Bank Stadium on November 12, 2023 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Todd Olszewski/Getty Images)
Surely, Beckham wants to be fully ready to go for the playoffs, but he's definitely a bit tight that he'll be missing out on a potential $1.25 million.
Beckham has incentives in his contract that say if he had recorded five more receptions (he has 35 this year), he would have raked in $250,000. Had he scored another two touchdowns, he would have earned another quarter-million.
But the big bonus would have come if Beckham had turned back the clock to his New York Giants self.
Beckham has 565 receiving yards on the season. Had he eclipsed the 750 mark, he would have netted another $750,000.
The 31-year-old has had 185 yards in a game just twice in his career, and not since 2016, ironically against the Ravens.
Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. celebrates after scoring against the Cleveland Browns during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, November 12, 2023, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
In an Instagram post highlighting incentives, Beckham told gamblers "don't bet on mine" with several laughing emojis.
"If it was all up to me itd be no question . I gotta feed my son but that ain’t how life go," he also wrote.
So, Beckham will finish with 35 catches, 565 yards and three scores.
Beckham, a Super Bowl champion with the Los Angeles Rams, recently called this current Ravens team the "best" he's ever been on.
"It’s everything," Beckham said in a postgame celebration this past weekend. "It’s the way the organization is run. It’s the players. . . . This is the best team I’ve been on in the NFL."
Odell Beckham Jr., #3 of the Baltimore Ravens, makes a catch against Shaquill Griffin, #0 of the Houston Texans, at M&T Bank Stadium on September 10, 2023, in Baltimore, Maryland. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
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Baltimore will host the lowest seed left standing in the divisional round in two weeks.
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