Yardbarker
x
Washington's Caleb Brantley first NFL player to take 'high-risk' opt out
Washington Football Team defensive tackle Caleb Brantley won't play if there's a 2020 NFL season held amid the coronavirus pandemic. Scott Taetsch-USA TODAY Sports

Washington's Caleb Brantley first NFL player to take 'high-risk' opt out

25-year-old Washington Football Team defensive tackle Caleb Brantley won't play if there's a 2020 NFL season held amid the coronavirus pandemic.

As Pro Football Talk's Charean Williams wrote, Brantley is the first known player to take the "high-risk" opt-out available during training camps, which open to all players on Tuesday. Brantley, as well as anybody else who takes that choice, will earn a $350,000 stipend and have his contract tolled, or delayed, until the 2021 campaign.

Earlier in the day, the Baltimore Ravens announced wide receiver and returner De’Anthony Thomas voluntarily chose to sit the season out.

The Cleveland Browns drafted Brantley in 2017, but he failed to make the club's final roster for the 2018 campaign. Brantley signed with Washington in September of that year but has only appeared in eight contests with the franchise because of injury setbacks.

He re-signed with Washington in March. 

Zac Wassink

Zac Wassink is a longtime sports news writer and PFWA member who began his career in 2006 and has had his work featured on Yardbarker, MSN, Yahoo Sports and Bleacher Report. He is also a football and futbol aficionado who is probably yelling about Tottenham Hotspur at the moment and who chanted for Matt Harvey to start the ninth inning of Game 5 of the 2015 World Series at Citi Field. You can find him on X at @ZacWassink

More must-reads:

Customize Your Newsletter

Yardbarker +

Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!