Report: Chicago Bears pick up Leonard Floyd’s 5th year option
The Chicago Bears have picked up Leonard Floyd’s option year according to a report.
Ryan Pace verbally committed months ago that they would exercise the fifth-year option on OLB Leonard Floyd.
Floyd has had an up and down career with the Chicago Bears through three seasons. He’s dealt with some form of injury in all three seasons and because of that has never really put it all together.
The second half of last season, once Floyd was clear of his hand and wrist injury, was without question the best stretch of football he’s played in a Bears’ uniform. So it wasn’t surprising that Pace verbally committed to Floyd.
Today, that verbal commitment became a tangible one.
Source: the Bears have picked up the 2020 fifth-year option on OLB Leonard Floyd. He has 15.5 sacks through three seasons.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) May 1, 2019
Adam Schefter tweeted out the same confirmation later in the day so it’s safe to say that this is 100% accurate.
Picking up the fifth year option for Floyd is a no brainer, but it’s an interesting decision. Floyd’s fifth year option is going to be very expensive. Floyd will be due $13.2 million in 2020. Which is a big price to pay on a team that doesn’t have much cap flexibility in 2020 as it is.
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Now, the Bears still have options with the Georgia product. If Floyd gets hurt this year and misses significant time, the fifth-year option automatically kicks in. However, if Floyd plays out the season and the Bears are disappointed in his performance, they can rescind the option in January or February and be clear of the price tag.
The other option the Bears have at that point will be to extend Floyd’s contract and make the 2020 cap hit far more palatable than the current $13 million.
What the Bears have done is given themselves flexibility with Floyd after this season. Edge is important and the Bears don’t have a viable edge other than Floyd to line up opposite of Khalil Mack.
Picking up Floyd’s option was the obvious decision. What Pace does with it will be an interesting item to watch throughout this season and into the beginning of 2020.
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With the Bears’ decision not to draft any edge players and Kylie Fitts doing close to nothing during his rookie season, the Bears don’t have anyone that could really even develop into a starting caliber edge by 2020 or 2021. Keeping Floyd as a part of this elite defense was important decision and as usual, Ryan Pace made the right call.