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NFL Fifth Year Option Contract Information

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By Steven Van Tassell

The fifth year option year on rookie contracts is a tricky thing for Dynasty Owners because of the way that Dynasty Owner calculates salaries. Dynasty Owners will continue to get the average rookie contract value for players drafted in the first round of the 2018 NFL draft for the 2021 Dynasty Owner season, but if their NFL team exercises their fifth year option, the player’s salary will change for the 2022 Dynasty Owner season. Fifth year options had to be exercised by the player’s NFL team by May 3rd.
For those players who have their option year picked up, they will be with their NFL team for at least another season. They can always sign a new contract extension with their team beyond the 2022 season, but at the least, they are signed through 2022. Last year, both Patrick Mahomes and DeShaun Watson had their fifth year options picked up and then signed long-term contract extensions with the Chiefs and Texans respectively that voided the option year.
For others, their fifth year option is picked up, but they don’t sign a new contract. This is the situation for three TEs (Evan Engram, O.J. Howard and David Njoku). All of them had their option picked up last season, but none received a contract extension so each one of them will play the 2021 NFL and Dynasty Owner seasons for their $6.013 million option year salary.
For Dynasty Owners, any contract change means that they will have seven days from the time when the new contract is posted on the Dynasty Owner platform to release that player free of charge. This is true for both contract extensions, free agent contracts and fifth year options. So, all Dynasty Owners with Mahomes, Watson, Engram, Howard and Njoku could have dropped them free of charge earlier this year when their new contracts became valid at the start of the 2021 Dynasty Owner league year.
If the option year isn’t picked up, then the player becomes a NFL free agent in 2022 and their current Dynasty Owner contract ends after the 2021 season. This is what happened to Mitchell Trubisky and Corey Davis last season. Neither one had their fifth year option picked up by their teams before the 2020 season and both departed as free agents in the off-season with new contracts and new Dynasty Owner salaries for the 2021 season. Once Trubisky and Davis signed their new contracts and the salaries were updated on the Dynasty Owner platform, their Dynasty Owners had seven days to either keep them at those new salaries or release them free of charge.
That was last year. For this year, Dynasty Owners should be aware of which players have had their options exercised for the 2022 season before 2021 start-up drafts commence on May 8th, so they have all of the contract information available to make smart Draft Day decisions. This information is also helpful to returning Dynasty Owners from 2020 for planning purposes in regard to rookie drafts, starting on May 28th.
Only players drafted in the first round have a fifth year team option in their rookie contract. There are 11 players in the Dynasty Owner player pool who were drafted in the first round of the 2018 NFL draft. Out of those 11 players, ten have fifth year options that can be exercised by their current team. The final player (QB Josh Rosen) lost his option year when he was released from his contract by the Dolphins last September. Rosen was originally drafted by the Cardinals with the tenth pick in the 2018 draft and later traded to the Dolphins. After his release, Rosen signed a new contract with the San Francisco 49ers in December of 2020 for a salary of $850,000 for the 2021 Dynasty Owner season.
All position ranking data and stats listed are from the 2020 Dynasty Owner season. Updated 2021 salaries are currently posted on the Dynasty Owner platform based on data from Spotrac (www.spotrac.com). Fifth year option year salaries listed are also from Spotrac, but are not yet updated on the Dynasty Owner platform.

Options Picked Up for 2022
A total of seven players in the Dynasty Owner player pool had their 2022 fifth year option picked up by the deadline. These players will stay with their current NFL team for the 2021 and 2022 seasons. In 2018 draft order, these players are:
Baker Mayfield (QB – CLE): 2021 salary = $8.17 million / 2022 salary = $18.858 million: Cleveland picked up Mayfield’s fifth year option meaning that the 2018 first overall pick will carry a salary of $18.858 million for the 2022 Dynasty Owner season. That will be an increase of over $10 million in salary from the upcoming season for his Dynasty Owners. Mayfield was the #16 ranked QB in Dynasty Owner in 2020 with 328.1 Dynasty Owner fantasy points and started all 16 games for an average of 20.5 Dynasty Owner fantasy points per game. He did improve in the second half of the 2020 season by averaging 21.9 Dynasty Owner fantasy points per game compared to 19.2 per game in the first half.

Saquon Barkley (RB – NYG): 2021 salary = $7.8 million / 2022 salary = $7.217 million: The Giants picked up Barkley’s fifth year option meaning that the 2018 second overall pick will carry a salary of $7.217 million for the 2022 Dynasty Owner season. That will be a decrease of around $583,000 in salary from the upcoming season for his Dynasty Owners. Barkley scored only 15.4 Dynasty Owner fantasy points in 2020 as he was injured in the second game and missed the remainder of the year. In 2019, he was the #9 ranked RB in Dynasty Owner with 251.1 Dynasty Owner fantasy points in 13 games played for an average of 19.3 Dynasty Owner fantasy points per game.

Sam Darnold (QB – CAR): 2021 salary = $7.56 million / 2022 salary = $18.858 million: Carolina picked up Darnold’s fifth year option meaning that the 2018 third overall pick by the New York Jets will carry a salary of $18.858 million for the 2022 Dynasty Owner season. That will be an increase of nearly $11.3 million in salary from the upcoming season for his Dynasty Owners. Darnold was traded to Carolina from the Jets earlier this off-season with Carolina then trading away 2020 starter Teddy Bridgewater to Denver. Darnold was the #33 ranked QB in Dynasty Owner with 158.8 Dynasty Owner fantasy points in 12 games played for an average of 13.2 Dynasty Owner fantasy points per game.

Josh Allen (QB – BUF): 2021 salary = $5.3 million / 2022 salary = $23.02 million: Buffalo picked up Allen’s fifth year option meaning that the 2018 seventh overall pick will carry a salary of $23.02 million for the 2022 Dynasty Owner season. That will be an increase of over $17.7 million in salary from the upcoming season for his Dynasty Owners. Allen has improved his fantasy production over each of the past three seasons with the Bills. He was the #2 ranked overall player and QB in Dynasty Owner with 516.1 Dynasty Owner fantasy points and started all 16 games for an average of 32.3 Dynasty Owner fantasy points per game.

D.J. Moore (WR – CAR): 2021 salary = $2.79 million / 2022 salary = $11.12 million: Carolina picked up Moore’s fifth year option meaning that the 2018 24th overall pick will carry a salary of $11.12 million for the 2022 Dynasty Owner season. That will be an increase of over $8.3 million in salary from the upcoming season for his Dynasty Owners. The durable WR has only missed two games in three NFL seasons. He will be playing with his third starting QB since joining the league. Moore was the #24 ranked WR in Dynasty Owner with 211.5 Dynasty Owner fantasy points in 15 games played for an average of 14.1 Dynasty Owner fantasy points per game.

Calvin Ridley (WR – ATL): 2021 salary = $2.725 million / 2022 salary = $11.12 million: Atlanta picked up Ridley’s fifth year option meaning that the 2018 26th overall pick will carry a salary of $11.12 million for the 2022 Dynasty Owner season. That will be an increase of almost $8.4 million in salary from the upcoming season for his Dynasty Owners. He was very consistent in 2020 with only three games of less than 10.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points. Ridley was the #5 ranked WR in Dynasty Owner with 280.5 Dynasty Owner fantasy points in 15 games played for an average of 18.7 Dynasty Owner fantasy points per game.

Lamar Jackson (QB – BAL): 2021 salary = $2.37 million / 2022 salary = $23.02 million: Baltimore picked up Jackson’s fifth year option meaning that the 2018 32nd overall pick will carry a salary of $23.02 million for the 2022 Dynasty Owner season. That will be an increase of over $20 million in salary from the upcoming season for his Dynasty Owners, the largest increase for all of the fifth year option players. Jackson was the #1 overall player in Dynasty Owner in 2019 with 515.2 Dynasty Owner fantasy points. In 2020, he was the #11 ranked overall player and QB in Dynasty Owner with 399.9 Dynasty Owner fantasy points in 15 games played for an average of 26.7 Dynasty Owner fantasy points per game.
Options Not Picked Up for 2022
Three players in the Dynasty Owner player pool did not have their 2022 fifth year option picked up. In 2018 draft order, they are:
Hayden Hurst (TE – ATL): 2021 salary = $2.76 million: Atlanta declined to pick up Hurst’s fifth year option for $5.43 million meaning that the 2018 25th overall pick by Baltimore will be a free agent in 2022. Hurst played for two seasons in Baltimore before being traded to Atlanta for the 2020 season. His value to the Falcons and Dynasty Owners took a big hit when Atlanta drafted Kyle Pitts with the #4 selection in the 2021 NFL draft. Hurst was the #9 ranked TE in Dynasty Owner in 2020 with 149.1 Dynasty Owner fantasy points in 16 games played for an average of 9.3 Dynasty Owner fantasy points per game.

Rashaad Penny (RB – SEA): 2021 salary = $2.69 million: Seattle declined to pick up Penny’s fifth year option for $4.52 million meaning that the 2018 27th overall pick will be a free agent in 2022. This is not too surprising since Seattle re-signed Chris Carson, who has led the Seahawks in rushing all three years that Penny has played for the team, to a 2-year deal earlier this off-season. Penny has been injured for a significant portion of his NFL tenure, missing 13 out of 16 games in 2020 as well eight games in the previous two seasons. Penny only scored 3.4 Dynasty Owner fantasy points in 2020 with just 34 yards rushing on 11 carries.

Sony Michel (RB – NE): 2021 salary = $2.41 million: New England declined to pick up Michel’s fifth year option for $4.52 million meaning that the 2018 31st overall pick will be a free agent in 2022. Michel led the Patriots in rushing in both 2018 and 2019, but was outrushed by Damien Harris in 2020. He will be part of the New England backfield in 2020 along with Harris, James White, J.J. Taylor and rookie fourth round draft pick Rhamondre Stevenson. Michel was the #62 ranked RB in Dynasty Owner in 2020 with 77.3 Dynasty Owner fantasy points in 9 games played for an average of 8.6 Dynasty Owner fantasy points per game.

Conclusions
For the seven players who had their 2022 options picked up, Dynasty Owners now know their salaries for the next two seasons, barring the signing of a new long-term contract with their current NFL team. The salary increases for these players are pretty significant, except for Saquon Barkley who will actually cost his Dynasty Owners less in 2022 than 2021. The certainty of their contract situations is helpful to know as we get closer to the start of the 2021 Dynasty Owner season.
For the three players who didn’t have their options picked up, they will be free agents in 2022 and free to sign new contracts with any team. They are wild cards for their Dynasty Owners. If 2021 is any guide, some will profit from this situation like Corey Davis who signed a 3-year, $37.5 million free agent deal with the New York Jets. Others won’t like Mitchell Trubisky who signed a 1-year, $2.5 million free agent deal with Buffalo. For right now, Dynasty Owners with those players on their roster are set for 2021, but the outlook for the 2022 season is unclear.
Keep an eye out for additional new articles and videos from the entire Dynasty Owner writing team. Nate Christian (@NateNFL) will continue to break down rookies in his Prospect Preview. Matt Morrison – The Jerk (@Dynastyjerk) is doing a deep dive into contracts by teams. Jay Pounds (@jaypoundsnfl) continues to look at how to rebuild your Dynasty Owner roster. And I’ll help get you ready for your 2021 Dynasty Owner start-up league team.
Please read all of our articles, watch the videos and follow the four of us plus Dynasty Owner (@Dynasty_Owner) on Twitter. Hopefully you found this information useful for getting ready for those start-up and rookie drafts. Thanks, and have a great day!

Steven Van Tassell is the Head of Content for Dynasty Owner
Follow us on Twitter: @SteveVT33 and @Dynasty_Owner

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