Giants WR Odell Beckham being pursued by Rams in possible trade

ORLANDO — Odell Beckham Jr. calls Los Angeles home in the offseason and soon he might live there year round.

The L.A. Rams, according to multiple NFL sources, already have talked with the Giants about possibly trading for the dynamic wide receiver and turning him from a Big Apple phenom into a Hollywood star.

One Rams executive, when approached by the Daily News at the Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes Monday afternoon, declined comment but flashed a wry smile and didn’t deny it. “Where did you hear that?” the exec said.

The News has learned that the Giants’ asking price in a prospective Beckham trade is starting at a first-round pick plus. The “plus” is the negotiable part, but the meaning is that it likely won’t require two first-round picks to get it done.

Rams GM Les Snead and head coach Sean McVay would not comment when approached by the News on Monday. But Snead is one of only two GMs who have made trades already with Dave Gettleman as Giants GM, and the other is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Jason Licht, who just re-signed his own wideout Mike Evans to a megadeal himself.

See Beckham through his career:

L.A. is a tantalizing and logical place for Beckham to land considering all the factors at play.

Offensive guru McVay lit the league on fire last season as a rookie head coach, but he lost deep threat wide receiver Sammy Watkins to the Kansas City Chiefs in free agency and still could use a true No. 1 WR to team with talented wideouts Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp (Here lies the Giants’ 2017 secondary).

The Rams are building a new $2.6 billion stadium in Inglewood, Calif., for a 2020 NFL season debut, so Beckham’s star power would help open the new digs with a bang.

And they have a young, talented quarterback in Jared Goff who is also cheap playing on a rookie contract. And that financial flexibility could allow the Rams to sign both free agent defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh and Beckham after they make a trade with New York.

Beckham doesn’t have a no-trade clause, but his familiarity and affinity for the area could help him acclimate better than he would in other markets. His star power as an NFL and Nike icon still would shine brightly in a major media market such as L.A. despite leaving the bright lights of NYC.

The Rams hypothetically could give the Giants their 23rd overall pick in this year’s first round, a later round pick and perhaps wide receiver/kick returner Tavon Austin, who has just one year at an $8 million cap hit remaining on his restructured deal. Austin, 28, is dynamic but didn’t see much action in McVay’s offense in 2017.

The Rams — who, again, were pursuing Beckham even before this week’s drama — easily could have plenty of competition, though, after Giants co-owner John Mara basically invited bidders on Sunday by taking a hard line on Beckham’s behavior and refusing to commit to OBJ being a Giant this coming season.

Related: NFL players who have switched teams this offseason:

That prompted Beckham to throw gasoline on the fire Monday morning, reportedly vowing he won’t set foot on a football field without a long-term contract extension, no matter what team he’s playing for. And so now, The News can report, the Giants are sitting back and — while not actively shopping OBJ — fielding all offers that come.

And make no mistake: while the Giants are in the middle of a cultural overhaul and rebuild that are directly impacting their decision to possibly trade OBJ, there are plenty other NFL teams that will view Beckham differently — as a gamebreaker worth the risk of a long-term deal for the potential reward.

Eliminate the NFC East and the Jets as potential suitors, of course. The Giants are not going to trade Beckham in division or let the Jets win big with their former star in their own stadium and make them look bad. But that leaves plenty of parties, led by the Rams but also including other possible intriguing landing spots:

— The San Francisco 49ers: Kyle Shanahan could light the league on fire with Jimmy Garoppolo throwing to OBJ. GM John Lynch showed at last year’s draft that he’s a more-than-willing trade partner, and San Fran owns the ninth overall pick this year and also the sixth and 10th picks of the third round. The Giants already have the second and fifth picks in the third round and could dominate the board there if the 49ers packaged a one and a three.

— The Buffalo Bills: GM Brandon Beane worked with Gettleman in Carolina, so there is a pre-existing relationship. Beane’s and Sean McDermott’s club also might have the best draft capital to swing a deal, owning the 12th and 22nd overall picks in the first round and also two second-rounders. Beckham would help out AJ McCarron and a likely rookie quarterback draft pick immensely.

— The New England Patriots: Imagine the G.O.A.T. throwing to OBJ. Bill Belichick probably will in the next few days.

— The Baltimore Ravens: Let’s be honest, the Ravens need a wide receiver every year.

The Giants, of course, are in the driver’s seat to drive the price up from a first-rounder plus. They essentially have invited GMs to make their bids and now can sit back, figure out who wants to buy in to this high stakes sweepstakes, and then can play teams against each other all the way up to the NFL Draft in late April before dealing if they wish.

Any team that trades for Beckham, however, is going to have to spend a lot of money signing him to his long-term contract extension, as well. So there will could be plenty of suitors arguing they can only give the Giants so much in a trade when they’re making such a significant financial investment on top of it — a long-term commitment that Mara clearly seems uncomfortable making in the star receiver and would be off-loading on someone else.

And it’s not out of the question that the Giants would accept a lower-than-expected price for Beckham, especially considering the Giants just parted with Jason Pierre-Paul at the discount of a third-round pick to get the deal done.

Understand, as The News has been writing, while trading Beckham isn’t Mara’s or the Giants’ preferred course of action given Beckham’s talent level, their patience has worn thin. They are reshaping their locker room; they are “tired,” as Mara reminded everyone Sunday, of the negative non-football related headlines; they have warned Beckham again and again; Mara was already at his breaking point in January. On Sunday, he doubled down.

And Mara’s comment when asked if he could foresee Beckham not being on the team in 2018 — “I can’t answer that one way or the other” — wasn’t even the most telling part of his interview. It was Mara’s long pause after the question was asked. Every reporter with their head in their phones looked up after the few seconds of alarming silence.

This is real. And outside the Giants, just like inside the building in East Rutherford, Beckham is regarded as a world-class talent, regardless of how he behaves off the field.

There is a market. The Giants are sellers. And the Rams are looking to buy.

Who will be next?