Broncos make their decision on Jerry Jeudy

When general manager George Paton was asked Friday about whether the Broncos would pick up Jerry Jeudy’s fifth-year option last Friday, he was non-committal.

Monday, the team made its call. With one day left before the deadline, the Broncos chose to pick up Jeudy’s option, ensuring he will be around through the 2024 season. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero first reported the move Monday morning.

The #Broncos are picking up WR Jerry Jeudy’s fifth-year option, per source.

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) May 1, 2023

For several weeks, rumblings of trading Jeudy circulated. In March, a reportes emerged that the Broncos wanted at least a first-round pick for Jeudy. In the weeks that followed, it appeared no team was willing to meet the asking price.

At the NFL League Meeting in Phoenix on March 26, Sean Payton declared to NFL Network, “We’re not trading those two players, referring to Jeudy and Courtland Sutton. And in a Zoom press conference April 20, Paton said of Jeudy, “He’s going to be here,” although he didn’t specify whether the Broncos would pick up the option.

Fifth-year options on first-round picks have injury guarantees. And while the per-year cost doesn’t match what Jeudy could get on the market, it’s projected by OvertheCap.com at $12.987 million — a nearly three-fold raise from the $4.834 million cap figure he’ll carry this season.

But if Jeudy produces the way he did down the stretch last year, that will be a bargain. Jeudy had the best sustained play of his career in the final six games of the Broncos’ doomed season. He notched 523 yards and 3 touchdowns on 37 receptions. All of the scores came in a 34-28 home loss to Kansas City.

Denver added Oklahoma WR Marvin Mims Jr. to the wide-receiver room on Friday night, trading up to do so. However, Paton said the move had no impact on the Jeudy decision. That doesn’t it might not affect other receivers, and Sutton and Tim Patrick both have contracts in which the Broncos could clear over $9 million of cap space each if they move on from either in the 2024 offseason.

So, don’t expect the rumors about Sutton to subside. According to a report in The Athletic, the Broncos and Ravens nearly had a deal before it crumbled. Baltimore subsequently signed Odell Beckham Jr.

But the rumblings about Jeudy likely ended Monday. He becomes the fourth of nine Broncos Round 1 picks from 2011-20 to have the team pick up his option.

Broncos fifth-year option history:

• 2011: Von Miller, picked up
• 2012: No Round 1 pick
• 2013: Sylvester Williams, declined
• 2014: Bradley Roby, picked up
• 2015: Shane Ray, declined
• 2016: Paxton Lynch, waived eight months before option deadline
• 2017: Garett Bolles, declined
• 2018: Bradley Chubb, picked up
• 2019: Noah Fant, traded two months before option deadline (Seattle picked it up)
• 2020: Jerry Jeudy, picked up

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