The Bills don’t have a first-round pick this year, which means, barring a trade on Thursday or down the road, they’ll avoid having to make a decision about a fifth-year option on a member of the 2015 draft class.
They do have to make one about their 2012 first-round selection, however, and Albert Breer of NFL Media reports that the team has made it. Per Breer, they will exercise their option on cornerback Stephon Gilmore’s contract, which leaves the 10th overall pick of the 2012 draft set to make $11 million next season.
The Bills can rescind that option, but an extension that keeps Gilmore in town beyond 2016 seems a likelier option. He’s set to be the team’s top corner again this season and coach Rex Ryan has prized having talented corners able to lock up opposing receivers on the outside of his defenses.
After a slow start to last season, Gilmore showed that he can do that at a high level and the three-year starter should continue to benefit from playing behind a defensive front that creates a lot of problems for quarterbacks.
