With the deadline for NFL franchises to pick up the fifth-year option on their 2020 first-round draft picks being ended, the Minnesota Vikings have made up their mind to abstain from exercising the fifth-year option on wide receiver Jalen Reagor for the 2024 season.
Just a few days ago, the Vikings made a bold but anticipated move by exercising the fifth-year team option for All-Pro wide receiver Justin Jefferson, keeping him with the team through the 2024 season and setting him up for a massive payday, with the option valued at a whopping $19.7 million, albeit things didn’t go smooth for Jalen like Jefferson.
Vikings opt against exercising fifth-year options on WR Jalen Reagor
According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Minnesota has decided to decline WR Jalen Reagor’s fifth-year option worth a total of $12.987 million fully guaranteed for the 2024 season, leading him to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2023-24 NFL season.
Before getting his name enrolled in the Philadelphia Eagles with the No. 21 pick in the 2020 draft, the 5-foot-11 pass catcher was a three-year starter at TCU and earned second-team All-Big 12 honors as a receiver and returner.
The 24-year-old signed a four-year, $13,270,677 rookie contract including a $7,211,401 signing bonus with the Philly, and was later traded to the Vikings for a seventh-round pick in 2023 and a conditional 2024 fourth that would deescalate to a fifth if Jalen doesn’t meet the statistical benchmarks.
Reagor played in 17 games in Minnesota in the 2022 NFL season, though he couldn’t prove his worth on the field with a poor record of only 104 receiving yards and a touchdown on eight receptions and 13 targets.
With the fifth-year option declined, the product of the TCU Horned Frogs football program is set to become a free agent at the conclusion of the 2023 season. It remains to be seen whether he will be able to rebound from his disappointing performance and earn a new contract with the Vikings or another team.
Do you think that the Dolphins made the right move by not picking Jalen’s fifth-year option? You can let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
