With teams making their final decision on fifth-year options for 2020 first-round picks before Tuesday’s deadline, one of the first few players off the board that year no longer has it on the table.
According to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, cornerback Jeff Okudah’s contract was adjusted when he was traded from the Lions to the Falcons last month. Detroit agreed to pay $1.5 million of his 2023 salary to facilitate the deal. Once that happened, Okudah was ineligible for the fifth-year option.
So, Okudah is set to become a free agent after the 2023 season. He’s slated to make $3.682 million with the Falcons this season.
Even if Okudah’s option was still on the table, it’s unlikely the Falcons would have exercised it. Okudah was sidelined due to injury for much of his first two seasons. But he started 15 games and played 69.8 percent of the club’s defensive snaps in 2022. He finished the year with 73 total tackles, seven passes defensed, an interception, and a forced fumble.
The Falcons announced late last week that they had picked up cornerback A.J. Terrell’s fifth-year option.