ORLANDO, Fla. — When approached at an elevator bank by two reporters early Sunday, off to the side of the well-appointed lobby of the Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes Hotel, John Mara really had no intention of engaging in any sort of meaningful conversation.

Sure, he would meet with the media at these NFL owners’ meetings, but not now and not there, and he was about to hit the “up” button and head to his room.

“What do you want to talk about?” Mara asked.

“Odell, the video and how it affects his contract situation,” was the reply.

Mara paused, briefly, nodded his head in the direction of the two hand-held digital recorders and said, “Put ’em on.”

What followed right then, and later, speaking to a fully assembled media throng, was a message Mara and the Giants wanted to make loud and clear to Odell Beckham Jr.: We love you, we want you, but we will not commit to pay you until you quit ticking us off and show us, at 25 years old, we can trust that if we make you the face of the franchise, you will not embarrass us.

Mara, acknowledging the trade a few days earlier that sent Jason Pierre-Paul to the Buccaneers, issued what should have been a fairly obvious pronouncement, when asked about other possible moves: “I think when you’re 3-13 nobody is untouchable.”

The next day, when an isolated report surfaced that Beckham, heading into the final year of a contract that will pay him $8.45 million, will not step foot on the field without a new deal, dots started getting connected and all of a sudden these meetings — with every NFL power broker under one roof — were misinterpreted by some as Let’s Make a Deal.

Mara got the ball rolling, and the Giants do not exactly mind some turbulence on Beckham’s flight to a new contract. If that means some trade scenario rumblings, so be it.

The Post learned any interest in Beckham would have to start with a first-round pick as compensation and build from there. It would take at least two first-round picks, ESPN reported Wednesday, a return completely in line with a source who indicated the Giants would have to be “overwhelmed” to consider dealing Beckham.

“I think you could say that about any player,” Mara said.

No team is giving up two first-round picks, and more, for Odell Beckham Jr. Essentially, the Giants put a franchise-tag price — two first-rounders — on Beckham. In the history of the NFL, no team has paid that price to sign a franchised player.

Lest anyone forget, Beckham is signed for this season, and the Giants can put the franchise tag on him in 2019 and again in 2020. It will not come to that — he will be secured with a multi-year deal, or be gone — but Mara, co-owner Steve Tisch and general manager Dave Gettleman are not going to be held hostage here. They know Beckham is a great player and demand he becomes a great Giants ambassador — or else.

Without saying anything to get him entangled in tampering, Les Snead, the Rams’ charismatic general manager, made it known to The Post that Mara’s comment piqued his interest. This was Monday night, the day the wheeling-and-dealing Rams signed Ndamukong Suh to a one-year contract worth $14 million, and Snead — who shipped linebacker Alec Ogletree to the Giants a few weeks ago — pondered the Beckham inquiry with this: “Haven’t we done enough?” Then, he laughed.

Snead also said he told Gettleman they should make sure to exit one of the meetings and walk together, enwrapped in conversation, down the expansive and well-decorated hallways lined with members of the media looking to put two and two together. Snead got a good chuckle out of that one, as well.

Now then, this is no laughing matter for the Giants. They are not dummies — they saw how their offense crumbled without Beckham last season. Without him, well, they better take Saquon Barkley with that No. 2 pick in the draft and hope he is Marshall Faulk, right away, as a rookie.

Better yet: The Giants already can envision Barkley in their backfield, Beckham out wide, Sterling Shepard in the slot, fleet tight end Evan Engram split wide on the other side and Eli Manning feeling frisky and secure, with his blind side protected by Nate Solder.

If Beckham digs in, stays away from the team and something else surfaces to disappoint Mara, sure, there could be a trade. That is why Mara and Gettleman would not — and should not — guarantee Beckham’s name would appear on the roster this season. As all “Star Wars” aficionados realize, only a Sith deals in absolutes.

Beckham, at present, could not pass a physical and continues to rehab his ankle. Any team acquiring Beckham would have to have a tacit agreement on a new, long-term mega-deal. Would anyone guarantee millions of dollars on a player who, at present, cannot run?

These annual meetings broke up Wednesday afternoon. Perhaps a return home for all will bring some sanity to the How The Beckham Turns soap opera.