Tag: option

Cesar Ruiz has made his fifth-year option an easy decision for the Saints

Cesar Ruiz may have ended his 2022 season with an injury, but he played well enough to make exercising his fifth-year option what should be an easy decision for the Saints:

Players selected in the first round of the 2020 NFL draft are now eligible to have their fifth-year options picked up for the 2024 season, with teams having until May 2 to decide whether to exercise that pickup. For the New Orleans Saints, they need to choose whether to retain right guard Cesar Ruiz.

Ruiz is coming off the best year of his career, though his season ended in Week 15 with a Lisfranc injury. He’s told ESPN’s Katherine Terrell that he’ll be on a scooter through February and then spend some time in a walking boot, but he’s on track to be ready for training camp. He’s already under contract for 2023. The question is whether the Saints should pick up his fifth-year option for 2024.

How much would that cost them? The NFL’s recent collective bargaining agreement worked out how these fifth-year options are valued, now basing them off of factors like snaps played and Pro Bowl recognition; Over The Cap’s CBA experts did a good job of explaining it. For the Saints, they’re facing a fully-guaranteed salary cap hit of $14.75 million for Ruiz in 2024 if they choose to exercise his option.

And picking it up is a no-brainer. Ruiz is trending in the right direction and he’ll only be turning 24 this summer. He really benefited from his first full offseason with the team, and with his new position coach Doug Marrone (plus some help in training camp from legendary Saints right guard Jahri Evans, who interned with New Orleans). The Saints should absolutely pick up that option for 2024 and get Ruiz under contract.

That $14.75 million is a lot of money, but it can be restructured later on down the line to maintain salary cap flexibility. What’s most important is holding onto Ruiz as a young player on the rise. They have a complicated salary cap situation to manage in the years ahead, so making factors like Ruiz a challenge to resolve on another day is crucial. Hopefully he can continue to improve and earn a long-term contract extension.

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Packers have seen enough of Jordan Love to make decision on 5th year option

Packers GM Brian Gutekunst on Jordan Love’s fifth-year option: “I think from our end of it, we’ve seen what we need to see.”

The Green Bay Packers have several major decisions to make this offseason, one of which includes whether or not to pick up Jordan Love’s fifth-year option for the 2024 season. Although Love has only 88 career pass attempts in his nearly three NFL seasons, when it comes to picking up that option, GM Brian Gutekunst has seen everything he needs to in order to make a decision.

“We’re really pleased with his progression and what he’s been able to do,” Gutekunst told reporters on Monday. “I think it would be really good for him, the growth you need to go through, seeing things for the first time, making those mistakes you need to make, but I think from our end of it, we’ve seen what we need to see.”

That progression that Gutekunst mentioned was on display during Love’s performance a few weeks ago in Philadelphia. Filling in for an injured Aaron Rodgers, Love completed six of nine passes for 113 yards, including a 63-yard touchdown pass to Christian Watson.

In addition to those stats, the version of Love we saw in Philadelphia was much improved compared to his previous performances against Detroit and Kansas City last season. Love’s arm talent was on full display against the Eagles, along with improved footwork that mirrored his eyes as he went through his progressions. Overall, Love was a much more confident passer both in and outside of the pocket as he was decisive in his decision-making and let each pass rip – something Matt LaFleur wanted to see more of during the 2021 preseason.

With that said, Gutekunst would add that there is still ample value for Love to gain by getting more live-game reps. But in addition to his sparse playing time, the Packers have seen him every day in practice for nearly three seasons, and he’s been working with the ones fairly regularly this year as Rodgers has missed some practice time with a thumb and rib injuries. When asked if Love could be a starter in the NFL, Gutekunst replied quickly that he can be.

While Love’s fifth-year option gives off the vibe that the Packers are finally at the crossroads of choosing between him and Rodgers, that really isn’t the case if Green Bay doesn’t want it to be. Still on the final year of his rookie deal in 2023, Love’s cap hit is only $3.9 million – an amount the Packers can easily work into their salary cap even with Rodgers’ contract.

As it currently stands, Love and Rodgers being together once again in 2023 may be the most likely option. Getting out of Rodgers’ contract would be a tall task and come with a massive dead cap hit, totaling more than $40 million. As ESPN’s Rob Demovsky would write, if that trade took place before June 1st of next year, all $40 million would be on the 2023 books. If it took place after that date, $15.8 million would fall in 2023 and $24.4 million in 2024.

Meanwhile, who knows what Love’s trade market even looks like? While the Packers seem to have a good grasp on his abilities, the rest of the NFL doesn’t. On top of that, he has only one year left on his rookie deal and a fifth-year option that will cost almost $20 million, which is a lot of money for a player with 88 career pass attempts.

As always, anything can happen. Maybe Rodgers will decide to retire. Maybe Love decides he wants to start and forces his way out of Green Bay. Whatever decision the Packers make in regards to Love this offseason will be more telling about the 2024 season than anything else.

If declined, perhaps Rodgers plans to play beyond 2023, or the Packers are ready to address quarterback once again in the draft. On the flip side, if picked up, with Rodgers’ having a cap hit in 2024 of nearly $41 million along with Love’s guaranteed $20 million fifth-year option, well, that isn’t cap-friendly at all and just isn’t going to work.

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Noah Fant sees endless options for tight ends in Seahawks offense

Noah Fant sees endless options for tight ends in the Seattle Seahawks offense, which he believes is favorable to the position.

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Noah Fant came to Seattle this offseason with Drew Lock in the trade that sent quarterback Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos. The Seahawks immediately picked up the fifth-year option on his rookie contract which sent a message to the young tight end.

Now, having been with the team for over a month, Fant has gotten a better idea of how Seattle utilizes the tight ends on the roster and he likes what he sees.

“I like the way we get passing concepts down the field,” Fant told reporters during his press conference last week. “The run game, obviously it’s going to be all built off the run game, which is a huge part of the game. Obviously, the play-action is going to be huge. So it’s a very balanced offense, which I like, and it’s very favorable to the tight end. So it’s nice.”

Fant was originally selected by the Broncos out of Iowa in the first round of the 2019 NFL draft. Now with a new team for the first time in his career, he hopes to capitalize on the opportunity which is so advantageous to his playing syle.

“Like I was saying before, it’s definitely an offense that’s favorable to the tight end, making life a little bit easier, making sure you know where you fit conceptually,” Fant expalined. “Like I said, being able to move around within the offense. That’s where it kind of gets a little bit touchy is like you have to know what you’re doing. You have to know conceptually of what’s going on.

“But once you get that down, the options are endless of what you can do, which is exactly what I want to be in.”

Fant and the rest of the Seahawks are set to kick off mandatory minicamp on Tuesday.

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Redskins decline to pick up fifth-year option on LB Reuben Foster’s contract

The Redskins declined the fifth-year option on Foster’s contract, seeing as there is no current timetable for his return to the field.

The Washington Redskins have reportedly declined to pick up the fifth-year option for linebacker Reuben Foster’s contract, according to Les Carpenter, with the Washington Post.

This doesn’t come as much surprise, seeing as there is not yet a timetable for Foster’s return to the field. By declining to pick up the option, Washington is simply not guaranteeing him any money for the 2020 season. He can still come back and play on a reworked deal if healthy.

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Health is the major question, though. About a year ago, in spring OTAs, Foster went down with a severe knee injury that left him sidelined for the entire 2019 season. The extent of the damage done wasn’t known initially, but reports that Foster suffered significant nerve damage in his leg have since come out, highlighted by a report that he finally regained the feeling in his foot earlier this year.

If he were to be healthy enough to play in 2020, the Redskins could absolutely use him at the linebacker position, but until we know more about his return to the game, there is no banking on his ability to suit up any time soon.

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