Patriots Decline DT Malcom Brown’s Fifth-Year Option

According to Mike Garafolo, the Patriots have declined DT Malcom Brown‘s fifth-year option 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.

Brown, 24, is a former first-round pick out of Texas by the Patriots in the 2015 NFL Draft. He is entering the final year of his four-year, $7.613 million rookie contract that included $6.242 million guaranteed and is set to earn a base salary of $1,473,168 for 2018.

In 2017, Brown appeared in 13 games for the Patriots and recorded 49 total tackles and 2.5 sacks. Pro Football Focus graded him as the No. 29 overall interior defender out of 122 qualifying players.