The NFL’s rising salary cap is good news for everyone, including Denver Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain.
After the league set the 2024 salary cap at $255.4 million, we now know how much a fifth-year option will cost for players picked in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft.
A cornerback who did not hit a playing time incentive or earn any Pro Bowl selections would earn $12,472,000 on a fifth-year option in 2025. Hitting the playtime criteria increases it to $13,377,000. Earning one Pro Bowl selection jumps to $17,215,000. Making a second Pro Bowl makes it $19,802,000.
Surtain played 95% of Denver’s defensive snaps over the last three seasons and he earned two Pro Bowl nods. So if (when) the Broncos exercise his fifth-year option, Surtain will be set to earn more than $19.8 million in 2025.
That will mark a huge increase from Surtain’s cap hit in 2024 ($6,669,983), and it’s almost as much as PS2 will earn through his first four seasons ($20,962,802). It’s still a bargain, though, as at least six cornerbacks are set to have cap hits north of $21 million in 2025.
Picking up Surtain’s fifth-year option will likely be a placeholder to give Denver time to negotiate an eventual long-term contract extension. The deadline to pick up Surtain’s option for the 2025 season in May 2.
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