The New York Giants made a huge decision on the future of former first-round draft pick Andrew Thomas on Tuesday ahead of the NFL’s option deadline. New York announced that they’ve elected to pick up the fifth-year option on Thomas’ rookie contract, keeping him with the team through the 2024 season.
If the Giants had chosen not to take the offensive lineman’s fifth year, he would have entered free agency after 2023.
After going No. 4 overall in the 2020 NFL Draft, Thomas signed a four-year deal worth $32.3 million. As a first-round draft pick, his rookie contract came with an automatic fifth-year option for the Giants.
Though he doesn’t qualify for the highest level of compensation, the former Georgia Bulldog will still get $14.175 million for the 2024 season.
Thomas has played in 45 games for the Giants, making 44 starts. He earned second-team All-Pro honors from the Associated Press following the 2022 season.
In 2020, on top of adding the qualifying levels for the fifth-year option, the CBA also made the salaries fully guaranteed, regardless of injury or skill.
More on the 2023 NFL offseason, free agency
The NFL 2023 calendar year began at 4 p.m. ET on March 15. At that time, contracts running through 2022 officially ran out, making those players free agents. Prior to the beginning of free agency, teams had a chance to designate one franchise or transition tag player, starting on Feb. 21 at 4 p.m. ET and ending on March 7.
There were 722 players due to hit free agency in 2023.
The legal negotiation period spanned from March 13 through March 15. The new year marked the beginning of all trades going official per the league office. April 21 marks the deadline to sign restricted free agents to offer sheets. On April 26, the deadline for teams to match restricted free agent offers sheets hits.
More on restricted, exclusive rights free agents
Players with only three years of accredited NFL experience become restricted free agents. Their original team will have the option to apply first-round, second-round, original-round, and right-of-fight-of-first-refusal tenders on players at escalating price tags. The higher the round, the more expensive the tender amount. However, if a separate team does offer a contract and the original team does not match that round pick will be conveyed from the new team to the original team.
The right of first refusal only gives a team the option to match or not. If they don’t match, they get nothing in return. An original-round tender would send a draft pick from whatever round the player was drafted back to the original team if they chose not to match. The original team will have five days to match once a player signs an offer sheet from a new team.
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