Plenty of you have asked for more information regarding the fact that Chargers linebacker Larry English, a first-round pick in 2009, won’t be a free agent in 2014.
And so here it is. Even for those who didn’t ask.
English, the 16th pick in 2009, agreed to a contract that included a both a signing bonus and an option bonus the following year. Fourteen of the other top 16 picks signed contracts with a similar structure.
The option bonus, paid in 2010, added a sixth year to the five-year contracts. The option year disappeared if the player participated in 35 percent of the snaps as a rookie, or 45 percent in any of the future years. English failed to hit the triggers in any of the years, from 2009 through 2013.
As a result, the sixth year didn’t void -- and English won’t be a free agent.
Even though the NFLPA’s official list of free agent includes English, a source with knowledge of the situation tells PFT that English agrees with the team’s interpretation.
It’s unclear what English would have earned on the open market. For now, he’s due to make $1.54 million. Given his performance over five NFL seasons and the current market for pass rushers, it’s likely he wouldn’t have seen more than that on the open market. He may have even been offered less.