What Saints' fifth year options history forecasts for Bryan Bresee
Few teams have picked up fifth year options as often as the New Orleans Saints, and it's often led to new deals. That's good news for Bryan Bresee.
Bryan Bresee became the latest New Orleans Saints first round draft pick to have his fifth year option picked up this week , which signals just how pleased the team has to be with his development. Now a three-down defender in a very literal sense, Bresee made up for a dip in sacks last season (2. 5) by creating five of his career tackles for loss against the run.
But what history do the Saints have with locking up those first rounders after riding with them into Year 5? Altogether, the Saints have exercised the fifth year options on 10 of their 15 first-round picks since the mechanism was introduced back in 2011 -- one of the higher hit rates in the league . Of those ten, four agreed to long-term extensions.
Two players had their fifth year options declined but were extended on new contracts. Just three of them truly washed out: linebacker Stephone Anthony, defensive end Payton Turner, and offensive lineman Trevor Penning. We should note that Eli Apple was acquired in a trade and had his option declined, and that he left the Saints in free agency.
But here's a recap of the Saints' own former first rounders: 2011: Cameron Jordan, exercised and extended 2011: Mark Ingram II, declined but extended 2013: Kenny Vaccaro, exercised (but left in free agency) 2014: Brandin Cooks, exercised (and then was traded) 2015: Andrus Peat, exercised and extended 2015: Stephone Anthony, traded (but was declined by Miami Dolphins) 2016: Sheldon Rankins, exercised (but left in free agency) 2017: Marshon Lattimore, exercised and extended 2017: Ryan Ramczyk, exercised and extended 2018: Marcus Davenport, exercised and restructured (but left in free agency) 2020: Cesar Ruiz, declined but was extended 2021: Payton Turner, declined (and left in free agency) 2022: Chris Olave, exercised 2022: Trevor Penning, declined (then was traded) 2023: Bryan Bresee, exercised And here's how that information was visualized in a flow chart: All told, this history suggests Bresee has a good chance at signing a long-term deal with New Orleans. The Saints have eventually landed on second contracts with six of their 15 first rounders whether or not the option was picked up, but four of those extensions followed after the option was exercised, and that's the camp Bresee falls in. When Chris Olave signs a new deal, that will be almost half the group.