Vikings FB Jerome Felton confirmed Friday that he will, in fact, exercise the opt out clause included in his contract next year and become a free agent in 2015.
“The economics of my thing is they’re not going to pay me $2.5 million,’’ Felton told Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press. “You wouldn’t just stay in a contract knowing your salary is that high. There’s no guarantee in the contract, so it wouldn’t make sense for me to opt in. So I’m a free agent after this season. If they wanted, they could re-sign me (at a lesser amount).’’
Felton added that his lack of playing time this season will factor into his decision regarding whether or not he would re-sign with the Vikings.
“I’m obviously not going to want to just play a few snaps,’’ Felton said. “All that stuff will come up (in talks after the season). But I’ve been positive this whole year and tried to be a leader in our locker room.’’
Last year, Minnesota reduced Felton’s salary from $1.95 to $1.45 million and in turn included the ability for him to opt out of the agreement following the 2014 season.
Felton has played just 122 of the team’s 743 snaps and only saw five snaps against the Packers in Week 12.
Interestingly enough, Pro Football Focus has Felton rated as the No. 2 fullback in the league, so even though fullbacks have found very little interest on the open market, there is a chance that Felton could have some opportunities next year.
Felton, 28, has appeared in 11 games and and carried the ball for 24 yards on three carries to go along with 23 kick return yards.
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Jerome is a great player and an all around back. He could definitely also fit the bill as a pass blocking tailback. He has great hands and dependable. I see a team picking him up as a FB and using him as a Tailback also.