GM Ryan Pace said that the Chicago Bears intended to pick up the fifth-year option of outside linebacker Leonard Floyd this offseason. He was a man of his word. On May 1st, the team fulfilled that part of their agenda. This move locks up Floyd for the 2020 season at a cost of $13.2 million.
This creates an interesting situation. Floyd is now not in a contract year though how he plays in 2019 will go a long way towards determining what his next contract may look like. Not to mention whether the Bears will be the ones to pay it to him. Don’t forget they have big-money deals for Eddie Jackson and Mitch Trubisky coming down the pipeline soon as well.
Leonard Floyd also faces a question of age regarding his Bears future
Floyd will turn 27-years old when the regular season begins this year. This means he’ll be 28 when the final season of his rookie deal kicks off in 2020. Teams tend to shy away from giving big money to players who are closing in on 30. Dee Ford had 13 sacks in 2018 for the Chiefs.
He earned $17 million per year from San Francisco but that was still considerably below what the top edge rushers are making. If Floyd wants to maximize his value, he has to deliver a breakout performance this season. He has never had more than seven sacks in a season in his career. He only has 8.5 over the past two years.
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So while he may have done enough to survive another year, he has not proven he’s worth keeping long-term yet. Staying healthy for a full season and producing sacks were what they drafted him to do. Until he proves others, this move by the Bears is simply meant to keep him around until they can find somebody better.
