The Indianapolis Colts have just over three weeks to decide whether they are going to pick up edge rusher Kwity Paye’s fifth-year option for the 2025 season.
All first-round selections come with a four-year rookie deal and a fifth-year option. This year the deadline for that option decision is May 2. If it is declined, Paye would become a free agent next offseason.
Sometimes, the difficulty of this decision is the timing of it with a full NFL season still to be played before the fifth-year option would go into effect.
The player’s salary for that fifth-year option season is fully guaranteed and determined by several factors, including playing time, position and whether the player has made any Pro Bowls.
For Paye, Over The Cap projects that his fifth-year option would be worth $13.38 million. And because these fifth-year options work essentially like a one-year deal, that entire amount would have to be absorbed under the salary cap in 2025.
Frequently, when these options are picked up, teams will eventually extend the player to a long-term deal, which helps reduce what is oftentimes a rather large one-year cap hit.
PFF recently predicted that the Colts would pick up Paye’s fifth-year option. Here was their reasoning behind that decision:
This one is pretty interesting, with Paye a good-but-not-great player who looks to have the makings of a solid NFL player for a long time, but maybe not much beyond that. That said, Paye has gradually improved and is a perfect fit in the Colts’ defense, and the option comes in at the lowest value for his position, so it makes sense for Indianapolis to pick it up and continue to push Paye’s development forward.
Last season, Paye recorded 28 pressures and a career-high 8.5 sacks — although that high of a pressure-to-sack ratio may not be sustainable year in and year out. Out of 58 eligible edge rushers, Paye ranked 11th in PFF’s run defense grade.
