NFL fifth-year options: Tracking team decisions on 2023 first-round picks

Friday marks the deadline for teams to make decisions on the fifth-year options for the 2023 draft class.Fifth-year options are reserved only for first-round picks and tack an extra year onto the standard four-year rookie contract. Teams must decide on a player’s option after their third season. The fifth-year option salary is fully guaranteed, and any base salary in the player’s fourth year that was not fully guaranteed also becomes guaranteed. The figure differs for each player because it is calculated based on a few factors: position, playing time, whether the player has been selected to one Pro Bowl, and whether the player has been selected to multiple Pro Bowls. Just because a player isn’t with the team that originally drafted him doesn’t necessarily disqualify him from the fifth-year option; players who were traded or claimed off waivers still carry that designation for the new team they’re on.Advertisement