Odell Beckham Jr. was one of the biggest off-season acquisitions in the NFL. He joined the Baltimore Ravens during the time when Lamar Jackson’s future with the team appeared to be in serious question, and signed a one-year, $15 million deal that the team used to prove that they were trying to surround their MVP-candidate quarterback with legit weapons.
NFL: OBJ Made Nearly Half A Million Dollars Per Catch In 2023
#Ravens Odell Beckham Jr. was paid $15M this season and finished with 35 catches for 565 yards in 14 games played…
That’s $428K per catch
(h/t @DrJesseMorse) pic.twitter.com/mgWYv2Pfvr
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) January 25, 2024
And while the Ravens have accomplished their goals so far and are playing for the AFC Championship this weekend, Beckham Jr. didn’t exactly live up to the value of his contract.
He was the 22nd-highest paid wide receiver in the NFL this season, which is not a bad number in itself. But given that he accumulated the 60th most yards of any wideout, the production certainly didn’t match the payment.
Odell Beckham Jr. played in a total of 14 games in 2023, and finished with 565 yards and three touchdowns on 35 total catches. That means that for every catch he made during the regular season, he took home $428,571.
Incentives Helped Boost The Number Even Further
“MY MVP!”
OBJ gifted Lamar the #SCtop10 chain pic.twitter.com/ZLJSEwdjog
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 21, 2024
But that wasn’t the only money that the Ravens forked over to OBJ this year. Also in the contract were player performance incentives, which allowed him to earn even more. By reaching 30 receptions, he earned an extra $250,000, and another $500,000 for racking up 500+ yards. His three touchdowns earned him another $250,000, giving him a full $1 million boost when all was said and done in the regular season.
With incentives included, the number per catch went up to $457,142.
Baltimore is hoping that the $16 million total will pay off in the postseason. The Ravens have high aspirations this year, with Lamar Jackson laser-focused on bringing home a championship, and they’ll need everyone’s best performance if they want to make it to the Super Bowl and potentially win it.
That includes Beckham Jr., who played in just one career playoff game before he joined the Rams for their Super Bowl run in 2021. He didn’t have much of an impact during the Divisional Round game against the Texans, catching just one pass for a total of 12 yards. In fact, aside from his 33 yard catch against the Miami Dolphins in Week 17, OBJ has a total of 39 receiving yards in his last three games played.