Broncos Inform LT Russell Okung They Won’t Be Picking Up His Option

Jay Glazer of FOX Sports is reporting that the Broncos have informed LT Russell Okung that they will not be picking up his option.

• Cameron Wolfe reports that the Broncos haven’t approached Okung about possibly returning at a lower salary.
• Wolfe adds that a return can’t be completely ruled out, but the expectation as of now is that Okung will test the free agent market.

This shouldn’t come as a big surprise, as the overall expectation has been that the Broncos were likely going to decline his option and look to reshape their offensive line this offseason.

The Broncos had until March 9 to pick up Okung’s $1 million team option. Had they exercised his option, they would have added four years at $48 million with $21 million guaranteed to his contract.

By declining his Okung’s option, the Broncos will pick up around $11 million of cap space to work with this offseason.

Okung elected to not hire an agent last year and negotiated his own contract that came under a lot of criticism from people around the league.

He’ll now test the free agent market for the second time in as many seasons. The good news for Okung is that the left tackle market is very limited, which could help his chances of securing a decent contract.

Okung, 28, is a former first-round pick of the Seahawks back in 2010. After six years in Seattle, Okung signed a one-year, $5 million contract that included a team option with the Broncos in March of last year.

In 2016, Okung appeared in all 16 games for the Broncos and was rated by Pro Football Focus as the No. 38 offensive tackle out of 78 qualifying players.