Bridgewater and Barr fifth-year options coming for Minnesota Vikings

Teddy Bridgewater and Anthony Barr were selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft, meaning contract options are coming up.

One of the advantages of drafting a player in the first round of the NFL Draft is that the contract is flexible. In particular, teams like the Minnesota Vikings can extend the contract by one year by exercising a fifth year option, but at a somewhat high cost.

Last year, the Vikings used that option on both Sharrif Floyd and Xavier Rhodes while declining on Cordarrelle Patterson. This offseason, the decision will need to be made on two more former first round picks by May 3, 2017: Anthony Barr and Teddy Bridgewater.

Drafted at #9 overall, the price tag for Barr will be very high. Since the costs are based on the spot where the player was drafted along with their position, Minnesota may be in for sticker shock since 2016 saw the price for a top 10 linebacker at $11.93 million and that is likely increase according to Scout.com.

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Bridgewater’s price tag could be high as well. Since he’s a quarterback, the price will be inflated even though he was selected at #32 overall. Teddy’s devastating injury will put the team in an interesting situation where his health will likely be the major factor in the team’s decision.

As it currently looks, both Barr and Bridgewater will likely be in line to stay a member of the Vikings. Even if the 5th year option isn’t used on these individuals, a long-term or more reasonable deal will likely be worked out.

Last season, the Vikings paid Matt Kalil over $11 million to see if he could be the long-term answer at left tackle and may be willing to do the same for Barr after a down season. However, this kind of money against the salary cap can be a big problem, and having both Barr and Bridgewater under big salaries could hurt in a big way.

Next: Vikings free agency tracker

Either way, the  Minnesota Vikings are in line to make some tough decisions. Perhaps they will use a the fifth year option of Teddy Bridgewater and Anthony Barr’s rookie deals to hold them over as a long term deal gets done, but it will be interesting to see what decision the team makes by the May 3, 2017 deadline.