Joe Burrow’s fifth-year option one of only 12 exercised

The Bengals exercising Joe Burrow’s fifth-year option is one success story in a draft class that saw fewer exercised than ever before.

The Cincinnati Bengals 2020 draft was a success, but it wasn’t like that for many teams around the league.

Only 12 players from the first round of that draft had their fifth-year options picked up, which according to Pro Football Talk, is a low since the fifth-year option arrived in the 2011 CBA.

Here’s what they said about the 2020 draft:

None of those 12 players have received their second contracts, yet. Each should, especially since they’ve necessarily outperformed a wage-scale rookie deal kept low to protect the system against busts.

In 2020, the first-round ultimately had 19 busts. In most cases, injury was the culprit.

Of course, the Bengals’ first-round pick from that draft was none other than Joe Burrow, who had his option picked up for $29.5 million guaranteed.

This doesn’t mean Burrow and the Bengals aren’t still attempting to work out an extension. They just had to meet the deadline of May 2 to exercise the option.

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