One of the decisions facing the Detroit Lions this offseason is the longer-term fate of cornerback Jeff Okudah. Like all other first-round picks from the 2020 NFL draft, Okudah has a fifth-year option in his rookie contract that is at the club’s discretion to exercise.
We now know the value of that fifth-year option for Okudah. The NFL released the values of the options, which are based on positional franchise tag values and certain playing time and accomplishment benchmarks.
For Okudah, he failed to earn any Pro Bowl berths or hit the playing time escalators, thanks to an Achilles injury in 2021. That leaves his option value for the 2024 season at $11,514,000.
Fifth-year option totals for 2020 first-round picks have been distributed to teams. Here are the numbers for the four different categories—deadline to pick up the options is the week after the draft. pic.twitter.com/T0r91eEUvl
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) February 7, 2023
Detroit has until May 1st to choose to exercise the option.
No matter what the Lions choose by the deadline, which hits right after the 2023 NFL draft ends, Okudah is under contract in Detroit through the upcoming season. Not exercising the option doesn’t necessarily mean Okudah will be done in Detroit after the 2023 season, either.
Not having the option picked up doesn’t rule out the player and team reaching an agreement on a different extension or a free agent deal once the rookie contract is done, though that’s not something that commonly happens. Likewise, teams are free to move on from players whose options they do pick up, a la Baker Mayfield with the Browns in 2022.
