A few teams don’t pick up fifth-year options on 2012 first-round picks
NFL teams now have to declare which first-round picks they think look like busts after three seasons.
Right after welcoming in a new draft class last week, NFL teams have a deadline for picking up or passing on the fifth-year option for first-round picks from the 2012 class. If a first-round pick has played well, it’s automatic. Teams err on the side of caution. The Washington Redskins picked up quarterback Robert Griffin III’s fifth-year option for $16.1 million coming off two disappointing seasons. Matt Kalil, who is looking like a possible disappointment as a left tackle for the Minnesota Vikings, had his option picked up too.
So if you don’t get a fifth-year option picked up, it’s a sign things are not going well.
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On Monday, ESPN said the Dallas Cowboys did not pick up the option on cornerback Morris Claiborne, the sixth overall pick, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won’t pick up the option on No. 31 pick, running back Doug Martin. Claiborne has struggled and was benched last year and briefly left the team in anger. Martin had a great rookie season and has done little since, not breaking 1,000 yards in the past two seasons combined.
That draft wasn’t good to some pass rushers. According to reports, the Chicago Bears won’t pick up outside linebacker Shea McClellin’s option, the Houston Texans won’t pick up the option on outside linebacker Whitney Mercilus and the Green Bay Packers didn’t pick up the option on outside linebacker Nick Perry.
The St. Louis Rams didn’t pick up the option on safety and seventh overall pick Mark Barron, who they acquired in a trade with the Buccaneers (what a bad draft that was for Tampa Bay). Technically, the teams could change their minds and exercise those options later today. Other players like running back David Wilson, running back Trent Richardson, quarterback Brandon Weeden and receiver A.J. Jenkins weren’t even eligible for the option because they either aren’t in football anymore or were cut by the teams that drafted them.
Most of the players who weren’t picked up make sense. They haven’t produced much for the team to invest another year into them right now, at least at the price it would take to exercise the option. But the most surprising player who didn’t get his option picked up was Seattle Seahawks outside linebacker Bruce Irvin, who has 16.5 career sacks. The Seahawks could try to lock up Irvin to a long-term deal. Irvin expressed on his Twitter feed, in colorful language not intended for a family-friendly site, that he didn’t really care that the option wasn’t picked up. It will be interesting to see that situation play out. According to Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times, Seahawks general manager John Schneider said no official decision has been made on Irvin’s option.
After the first round of this year’s draft, everyone is happy and every team thinks they got a Pro Bowler with their pick. But the players who weren’t picked up for a fifth-year option are a reminder that in three years, a handful or more of last Thursday’s first rounders will be announced as probable busts when their options aren’t exercised.
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
