According to James Palmer of the NFL Network, it’s “far from a sure thing” that the Broncos will exercise DE Shane Ray‘s fifth-year option before the upcoming deadline.
Denver just used the No. 5 overall pick on OLB Bradley Chubb and re-signed RFA Shaq Barrett, so it shouldn’t come as a big surprise to hear that they could decline Ray’s option.
Ray’s fifth-year option would cost the Broncos $9,232,000 for the 2019 season. It’s worth mentioning that the fifth-year option is only guaranteed for injury and won’t prevent the two parties from working on a long-term extension in the next year or so.
Ray, 25, is a former first-round pick of the Broncos back in 2015. He’s entering the final year of his four-year, $9.116 million contract and stands to make a base salary of $1,678,485 in 2018.
Denver placed him on injured reserve coming out of last year’s preseason with a wrist injury and was designated as their player to return. However, Ray landed on the injured reserve a second time in December after re-injuring his wrist.
In 2017, Ray appeared in eight games for the Broncos and recorded 16 tackles and a sack. Pro Football Focus rated him as the No. 97 edge defender out of 106 qualifying players.
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