John Mara Says Odell Beckham Jr. 'Deserves to Be Paid' and Giants Will Pay Him

New York Giants president John Mara said Friday the organization is planning to reward wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. with the new deal he's been seeking throughout the offseason.

Jordan Raanan of ESPN passed along comments from Mara about the star wideout's contract situation.

"He deserves to be paid. And we're going to pay him," Mara said, without providing a concrete timetable.

Beckham is set to carry a cap hit of just over $3.3 million into the 2017 campaign, which ranks 46th among players at the position, per Spotrac. The number will spike to almost $8.5 million next season, the final year of his rookie contract.

The 24-year-old LSU product has provided terrific bang for the buck in recent years. He's caught 288 passes for 4,122 yards and 35 touchdowns across his first three NFL seasons since the Giants took him with the 12th overall pick in the 2014 draft.

He reached triple-digit catches for the first time last year with 101 grabs for 1,367 yards and 10 TDs.

On Thursday, Beckham told UNINTERRUPTED he wants to become the league's highest-paid player:

"

.@OBJ_3 has put his "heart, soul, body, mind, spirit, everything..." into his game — and it shows. #NFLTrainingCamp pic.twitter.com/FMHrTXssJN

— UNINTERRUPTED (@uninterrupted) July 27, 2017"

While there's no doubting his talent, his occasional on-field antics and off-field issues have raised concerns about the amount of risk involved in a lucrative, long-term extension.

"He certainly is a star in every sense of the word," Mara told reporters. "That presents certain challenges, but I'll live with those challenges every day of the week to have a player like that."

Beckham may not get his wish of becoming the NFL's best-paid player given the massive contracts handed out to quarterbacks and edge-rushers. That said, he should jump from just inside the top 50 to near or at the top of the wide receiver list if a new contract does get done with the Giants.

However, there isn't much pressure on the front office since he's under team control for two more years, and they can use the franchise tag after that if needed.