NFT is not his ball to play.
Odell Beckham Jr. became the most recent athlete/public figure to announce their intention to receive a portion of their salary in Bitcoin in November. Most professional organizations, including the NFL, do not pay their employees in Bitcoin.
Whenever you hear someone refer to taking their salary in Bitcoin, they almost always receive a direct deposit of U.S. dollars into their bank account from their employer, then convert those dollars into Bitcoin using a cryptocurrency app after the fact.
When the Cleveland Browns decided to release wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., the Los Angeles Rams signed him. OBJ opted to receive his entire NFL salary in Bitcoin. At the time, Bitcoin was shattering currency records and reaching all-time highs; each coin was worth approximately $64,000.
Although it appeared to be a wise decision then, Bitcoin’s market decline has devastated its value. Currently, the value of the cryptocurrency is hovering at $36,000, roughly half of its previous value. The news of the Bitcoin price decline negatively affected Beckham’s earnings.
Darren Rovell reported that his total remuneration, excluding taxes, has decreased from $750,000 to $413,000. After taxes, OBJ earned approximately $35,000, which is equivalent to one Bitcoin, and there was no assurance that Bitcoin would continue to decline or attain the same heights as before, so it was determined that OBJ gained. Undoubtedly, OBJ has yet to receive the finest news regarding his salary in the coming years.
As first remarked by Darren Rovell on Twitter, Odell Beckham Jr.’s foray into Bitcoin has thus far been unimpressive. Odell inked a one-year contract with the L.A. Rams on November 12, 2021, for a base salary of $750,000, and he disclosed shortly after the deal was announced that he intended to take his entire base salary in Bitcoin through a partnership with Square, which is now Block.
NFL players are paid in U.S. dollars via weekly direct deposits, so it’s not as if the league gave him $750,000 on day one. However, if we follow the declaration, we can infer that he took his entire base salary and converted it into Bitcoin.
Using data, the value of a single Bitcoin in mid-November, when the transaction was announced, was $64,293. Thus, $750,000 would have purchased 11.66 Bitcoin at that time; a single Bitcoin was worth $20,000 at that time. Therefore, his 11.66 Bitcoins are valued at $235,000.
Unfortunately, the United States Federal government and California tax collectors demanded taxes on the entire $750,000 salary in April last year. The maximum federal tax rate is 37%, California will require 13.3 percent, and based on the calculation of 50.3% of $750,000 in taxes, Odell’s total tax liability is $375,000.
Odell’s net salary for the 2022 NFL regular season was technically – $142,000 as of this writing ($233,000 – $375,000) = – $142,000. In other terms, he was required to pay $142,000 last year to play in the NFL. Odell participated in 14 NFL games during the 2017 season, paying $10,142 per game.
Bitcoin could make his decision appear brilliant once again in the future. It would be difficult to argue against the fact that Odell’s decision to take his entire salary in Bitcoin has proven to be a catastrophic failure.
We currently estimate Odell Beckham Jr.’s net worth to be $40 million. Odell became the highest-paid wide receiver in NFL history after signing an unprecedented $95 million contract extension with the Giants in August 2018, including a $65 million guaranteed signing bonus.