Arizona Cardinals have no player eligible for fifth-year option
Following the 2025 NFL draft, the talk around the NFL has been about teams and the fifth-year options of contracts for former first-round draft picks. The deadline was Thursday. The Arizona Cardinals have been notably absent in this news.
Do you remember why?
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It is the 2022 first-round draft picks for whom teams must decide whether or not to exercise their fifth-year option.
The Cardinals did not make a first-round pick in 2022. They traded it to the Baltimore Ravens for receiver Hollywood Brown and a third-round pick. So the Cardinals have no decision to make because they have no player entering his fourth year as a first-year draft pick.
The player the Ravens got with the pick the Cardinals traded them is center Tyler Linderbaum. The Ravens did not exercise his fifth-year option, but that would have cost the Ravens $23.4 million in 2026 because rookie contract designations have all offensive linemen lumped into one group. Centers are generally the lowest-paid lineman of the position group.
Next year, it will come time to decide on tackle Paris Johnson, but that is a year away.
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Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire's Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.
This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: No fifth-year option for Arizona Cardinals
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