Should the Minnesota Vikings exercise Trae Waynes’ fifth-year option?

Coming off his best season as a pro, will the Minnesota Vikings use their option to extend the cornerback’s contract through 2019?

It wasn’t much of a surprise when the Minnesota Vikings selected Michigan State cornerback Trae Waynes with the 11th pick in the 2015 NFL Draft. Many of the mock drafts published that year had Waynes going to the Vikings and joining a Minnesota defensive backfield that featured Xavier Rhodes and Harrison Smith.

Since he became a member of the Vikings in 2015, it has been a bit of a bumpy ride for the young corner.

During his rookie season, Waynes barely saw the field unless it was on special teams. In 2016, he actually started eight games for Minnesota but still showed signs of his inexperience as he allowed a handful of touchdowns to opposing receivers.

Last season, Waynes started in all 16 of the Vikings’ matchups and had himself a solid year after a bit of a rough start. The young corner finished 2017 with 65 total tackles, 11 pass deflections, two interceptions, and one sack.

Since Waynes was drafted in the first round, Minnesota has the ability to exercise an option that adds another year to his current contract. The Vikings have until May 3 to decide if they will be exercising the corner’s fifth-year option or not.

If the option is used, Waynes will be under contract with Minnesota until 2020. Since the corner was  selected outside of the top 10 in the 2015 draft, the cost for Waynes’ fifth year is determined by averaging the salaries of the third through the 25th-highest paid NFL corners in 2017.

Minnesota Vikings

Based on this average, it looks like Waynes would get paid around $9 million in 2019 if the Vikings decided to exercise his fifth-year option.

Minnesota could have made a decision on the corner’s option as early as January 1, but the recent past indicates that an announcement probably won’t be made until right around the May 3 deadline.

Looking at Waynes’ progression in performance over the last three seasons, it should be expected that the Vikings will likely exercise his fifth-year option. It’s also quite possible that the corner could improve even more next season and his $9 million salary in 2019 would then become a bargain.

Even if they decide to use the option, Minnesota can always decline it before the start of the new league year in 2019 and not owe the corner a dime. There’s also a chance that the Vikings would negotiate an entirely new deal with Waynes before 2019 anyway, just as they did last summer with Rhodes.

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Based on the fact that Minnesota exercised the fifth-year option for five of a possible seven players in the last three years, it appears that the same will likely be done for Waynes.