By John Sarianides
I cannot say that I am surprised that the Buffalo Bills declined to pick up Sammy Watkins fifth year option or that the Minnesota Vikings declined to pick up Teddy Bridgewater‘s fifth year option. Both organizations made the difficult decision to not pick up the option while at the same time admitting that they made bad decisions in the 2014 draft.
The Bills have to be the most disappointed because they gave up a haul to move up and draft Watkins with the fourth overall pick in the 2014 draft. Buffalo sent the ninth overall pick along with their first- and fourth-round selections in 2015 to Cleveland in the trade. That is a steep price to pay however at the time Watkins appeared to be a can’t miss, impact receiver who was going to finally give the Bills the big play threat they were missing.
Unfortunately drafting Watkins did not work out for the Bills and quite frankly, it is not a surprise. Watkins did not really want to go to Buffalo. He was more focused on having to play in the cold than he was on playing football. Watkins isn’t exactly “tough” He has been battling a foot injury since last season and has missed several other games during his three year career due to other aliments. Ultimately, that is why the Bills decided to move on. Watkins is not worth investing in long term if he is spending more time in the training room than on the field.
Bridgewater’s situation is much different. He suffered a horrific knee injury in training camp last summer which prompted the Vikings to trade for veteran Sam Bradford. Bridgewater has a long way to go in his recovery still and that is why the Vikings chose to not pick up his fifth year option. Between his recovery and what it would cost them to retain plus Bradford being a free agent next off-season, the Vikings decided to move on.
It was the right decision. As cold as that may sound, the NFL is a business and it would have been bad for business if the Vikings exercised Bridgewater’s fifth year option. Unfortunately for Bridgewwater, he will more than likely hit the open market next off season and have to prove to teams that he is healthy if he wants to continue his NFL career.
The fifth year option is in place to protect the team. It doesn’t benefit the player unless they out produced their rookie contract and the team is motivated to pick up the option. Even then, they are essentially giving up a year of free agency. One has to wonder if the fifth year option will be in the next CBA? Time will tell but until then, teams can protect themselves while admitting failure.