According to Mike Garafolo, the Saints will decline CB Eli Apple‘s fifth-year option.
That means Apple will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2019 season.
The Giants traded Apple to the Saints midseason in 2018 for a 2019 fourth-round pick and 2020 seventh-round pick.
The fifth-year option for Apple would have cost the Saints $13.7 million and been guaranteed for injury. It wouldn’t have become fully guaranteed until the first day of the 2020 league year.
Apple, 23, is a former first-round pick of the Giants back in 2016. He’s entering the final year of his four-year, $15.152 million contract and stands to make a base salary of $2.51 million.
In 2018, Apple appeared in five games for the Giants and 10 games for the Saints. He recorded 74 total tackles, two interceptions, a forced fumble, two fumble recoveries and 14 pass defenses. He was rated by Pro Football Focus as the No. 64 cornerback out of 112 qualifying players.
Looking for the latest NFL Insider News & Rumors?
Be sure to follow NFL Trade Rumors on TWITTER and FACEBOOK for breaking NFL News and Rumors for all 32 teams!
