The Arizona Cardinals have until Tuesday to make a decision on the contract of one of their key young players. 2020 first-round pick Isaiah Simmons enters his fourth season and the Cardinals have until May 2 to exercise his fifth-year team option.
Under the fifth-year option, Simmons would be due $12.7 million in salary.
As of the weekend at the end of the NFL draft, the Cardinals still had not made a decision.
“We have a few more days on that and we’ve got to work through that,” general manager Monti Ossenfort said after the draft. “We’re going to catch our breath here a little bit and then we’ll have a decision on that next week, but we’ll get to that.”
The fact they have not decided all but means they will not exercise it. They have had months to decide it and determine whether it is worth it.
We don’t yet know exactly what role Simmons will have this year or what position he will play in their new defense.
One thing we do know is that head coach Jonathan Gannon doesn’t necessarily put high value on the linebacker position in terms or money or draft capital.
Can the Cardinals get equal production for far less than $12.7 million? That is the big question.
Assuming they do not pick up the option, Simmons will enter a contract year.
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