Odell Bitcoin Jr.? LA Rams WR seeking cryptocurrency compensation

Six months ago, we reported that Kansas City Chiefs tight end Sean Culkin planned to become the first NFL player to take 100 percent of his salary in Bitcoins rather than Benjamins. At that time, we posed the question: Will the LA Rams ever pay a player in Bitcoin over Benjamins? Well, six months later, we have our answer.

The LA Rams have just signed a new wide receiver to the team by the name of Odell Beckham Jr. Well, he may be wise to change his name to Odell Bitcoin Jr, thanks to his latest Tweet regarding a deal with Cash App. In that announcement, he is the spokesperson for a promotion with a giveaway prize incentive of up to $1 million in Bitcoin (BTC).

And in the process, he announced that he is taking his salary from the LA Rams in bitcoin.

While the promotion is certainly apt to catch some attention, the underlying cryptocurrency is somewhat speculative. When we ran the story on April 26, 2021, one bitcoin held a value of $54,768.30. On Monday, November 22, 2021, the value of a single bitcoin has increased to 56,289.00. That is an appreciation of 2.65 percent or a return rate of 4.6 percent on an annual basis.

New cryptocurrency compensation contract clause coming?

While the NFL and NFLPA have not deliberated on the matter, this could be a negotiation point of the future if speculation among NFL players results in excessive compensation. Right now, the NFL treats all compensation purely on the US Dollar value.  We talked about how $7.5 million of Russell Okung’s parlay could have a massive windfall in store.

A purchase of 274.1 bitcoin then would be worth $15,411,250.57 today. Of course, it’s easy to portray bitcoin in the narrative of what-it? long-term investment. But assuming that OBJ converted his $1.25 million worth of salary and signing bonus from the LA Rams organization into bitcoin, he would own 22.2068 bitcoin. Now, we’ll revisit this maneuver in the future.

If the move pays off, he will be paid quite handsomely for a few games’ worth of work. If not? He risks earning less than the NFL minimum.