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The players selected by the New Orleans Saints in the 2017 NFL Draft have formed a core for the rest of the team to build around. That draft class included key fixtures such as cornerback Marshon Lattimore, right tackle Ryan Ramczyk, free safety Marcus Williams, and running back Alvin Kamara, as well as contributors like linebacker Alex Anzalone and edge rusher Trey Hendrickson.
But now it’s time to make contract decisions for each of them. With the 2019 season in rear-view, they’re all eligible for long-term contract extensions, even with one year left on their rookie contracts. As former first-round picks, the Saints can exercise fifth-year options for Lattimore and Ramczyk, which would keep them under contract through 2021. But would doing that be worth it?
In a word: yes.
Because neither Lattimore nor Ramczyk were top-10 draft picks, their fifth-year options are worth quite a bit less than if they had been selected higher. The values for fifth-year options are determined both by draft slot (1 through 10 versus 11 to 32) and the position they play. Top-10 options are the average of the 10 highest-paid players at that position, while those picked outside of the top 10 are paid the average of the third through 25th highest salaries.
Last offseason, the Saints declined Eli Apple’s fifth-year option for 2020 — because he was the tenth overall pick back in 2016, he would have been owed more than $13.6 million in the upcoming season. Instead, he’ll likely test free agency or re-sign with the Saints at a significantly cheaper rate.
These numbers will rise slightly as new deals are signed with other players between now and 2021, but here’s what the estimated fifth-year options would look like for Lattimore and Ramczyk, per annual salary data from Over The Cap:
- Lattimore’s estimated fifth year option: $11,648,790
- Ramczyk’s estimated fifth year option: $12,860,543
To be clear: exercising these options for 2021 will not impact either player’s cap hits in the upcoming season, when Lattimore will count for north of $4.8 million against the salary cap while Ramczyk is due more than $2.8 million.
Those 2021 salaries will be fully guaranteed for injury, but it’s easily worth the price considering both players are All-Pro talents. Either of them could reset the market at their respective positions once it’s time to pay their long-term contract extensions (right now, Xavien Howard paces the cornerbacks with $15.05 million per year; Lane Johnson leads all offensive linemen at $18 million per year).
While keeping both Lattimore and Ramczyk under relatively-low salary cap hits is important, the real benefit of picking up these options is creating more time for old contracts to get off the books. The Saints are going to have at least $21.3 million in dead money counting against the salary cap whenever Drew Brees retires, so if they can buy more time on these mega-deals for Lattimore and Ramczyk, they should. It’s one of the easier decisions they’ll have to make this offseason, compared to more serious issues like whether Williams and Kamara should be re-signed long-term.
Lattimore deservedly caught some flak for his poor performance against Adam Thielen in the playoffs; Thielen went off with 7 catches for 129 yards with Lattimore primarily covering him. But fans (and the Saints) shouldn’t be prisoners of the moment and think that justifies trading or, ridiculously, cutting him. No player in the NFL has recorded more passes defensed from 2017 to 2019 than Lattimore (44 in 43 games), and he’s played fewer games than each of the runners-up (Tre’Davious White, with 43 in 47 games and Marlon Humphrey, who had 40 in 46 games). He’s one of the most consistent playmakers the Saints have.
So, to summarize: Ramczyk and Lattimore are two of the most-valuable players in New Orleans, and they deserve to be paid as such. And the Saints can help ensure that happens by picking up their fifth-year options to maximize their salary cap resources in the years ahead. The Saints will have until early May to decide whether to exercise these team options for the 2021 season, but from where things stand in January, it’s an easy call to make.
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