Teams have until May 3 to exercise fifth-year contract options on their 2013 first-round picks and those with easy calls have already announced their intentions to make use of their ability to hold onto a key contributor.
The call isn’t as easy for the Jaguars. They selected tackle Luke Joeckel with the second overall pick that year, but he hasn’t turned into the foundation piece they were hoping for to this point. The Jags signed Kelvin Beachum as a free agent this offseason, giving them another option on the left side of the offensive line and General Manager Dave Caldwell says the team will continue considering how to proceed with Joeckel through the draft.
“After the draft, I’ll let my mind clear a little bit and talk to Luke a little bit, too,” Caldwell said, via the Florida Times-Union.
Joeckel would be paid the average of the top 10 offensive linemen in the league under the terms of the option, which would likely be around $12 million. That would likely limit any trade options the Jaguars might want to explore if Beachum’s knee is sound after last year’s torn ACL since they have a four-year option built into the contract the former Steeler signed last month.