Odell Beckham Jr. is clearly all-in on making a playoff run with the Baltimore Ravens.
Instead of playing in the last game of the season to try and reach more incentives, the former All-Pro will rest in Week 18 to stay ready for the postseason.
The Ravens find themselves in an interesting position heading into Week 18.
With the top seed in the AFC locked up last week, Baltimore was left to decide whether they would rest their stars against the Steelers on Saturday or have them play to try and stay sharp for the playoffs.
Yesterday they announced that Lamar Jackson would be resting and they’d be starting Tyler Huntley instead.
Today, Beckham Jr. was one of six players that was added to the list of inactives for the matchup against the Steelers.
It’s a smart decision from both the player and the organization given Beckham Jr.’s injury history.
However, the receiver signed a deal this offseason that included $3 million in incentives and this decision will stop him from chasing that money.
Incentives In Beckham Jr.’s Contract
Beckham Jr.’s contract was a 1-year deal worth $15 million, but with incentives in the deal that could bring the total value up to $18 million.
Those incentives were broken up into three different categories. Those categories were receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns.
Beckham would earn $250,ooo if he made 30 catches, $500,000 if he reached 40 catches, $750,000 for 50 catches, and a total of $1 million if he made 60 catches this season.
The other two categories followed a similar pattern. He would receive $250,000 bonuses for reaching 250, 500, 750, and 1,000 receiving yards.
He would also receive $250,000 bonuses for catching 3, 5, 7, and 9 touchdown passes.
Heading into the season, Beckham Jr. was expected to get some extra money out of these incentives, but fall short of the top prizes in each category.
He entered the season having not reached 50 catches, 750 yard, or 7 touchdowns since 2019 because of a combination of injuries, disappointing play, and inconsistent quarterbacks.
Incentives He’s Leaving On The Table
Despite a couple of missed games so far this season, Beckham Jr. has done a pretty good job of keeping himself in the hunt for these incentives.
The former All-Pro entered this week having already earned $1 million from the incentives in his contract.
Those came from hitting the first benchmark in the receptions category, the first two bonuses in the receiving yards category, and the first touchdown benchmark.
If he had chosen to play, he could have plausibly added three more bonuses to his haul for the year.
After Week 17, Beckham Jr. was only 5 catches short of one bonus. He was 185 yards away from another. He needed just two more touchdowns for a third.
However, he has decided to put the needs of the team first and will now finish his first season with the Ravens with 35 catches for 565 yards and 3 touchdowns.
His reception total put him in third on the team behind just Zay Flowers and Mark Andrews. Flowers was the team’s only player with more receiving yards.
Beckham Jr. may not have collected all $3 million of incentives, but his play will be a big factor in how successful the Ravens can be in the playoffs.
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Ravens WR Odell Beckham Jr. Missing Out On Incentives By Sitting In Week 18