The New Orleans Saints chose not to exercise the fifth-year option for cornerback Eli Apple, per a report from Mike Garafolo of NFL Network. Apple is now scheduled to become a free agent next March, barring a contract extension with the Saints.
Because Apple was the 10th overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, his fifth-year option would have come in at an estimated $13.6 million — far outside the price range New Orleans was willing to pay for the second cornerback on the depth chart. Depending on how pending free agents like Dallas Cowboys star Byron Jones are paid, that estimate would rise in value.
New Orleans acquired Apple in a trade with the Giants in October, sending New York a 2019 fourth-round pick and a seventh-rounder in 2020. That’s not a bad investment to make in a former first-round pick who turned into a solid starter after joining the Saints. Should Apple continue to make strides in 2019, he could earn a long-term deal with New Orleans or a bigger payday on the free agent market.
