The Cincinnati Bengals 2020 draft was a success, but it wasn’t like that for many teams around the league.
Only 12 players from the first round of that draft had their fifth-year options picked up, which according to Pro Football Talk, is a low since the fifth-year option arrived in the 2011 CBA.
Here’s what they said about the 2020 draft:
None of those 12 players have received their second contracts, yet. Each should, especially since they’ve necessarily outperformed a wage-scale rookie deal kept low to protect the system against busts.
In 2020, the first-round ultimately had 19 busts. In most cases, injury was the culprit.
Of course, the Bengals’ first-round pick from that draft was none other than Joe Burrow, who had his option picked up for $29.5 million guaranteed.
This doesn’t mean Burrow and the Bengals aren’t still attempting to work out an extension. They just had to meet the deadline of May 2 to exercise the option.
