Penei Sewell, the Detroit Lions’ starting right tackle, will enter the fourth year of his rookie contract in 2024, but because he was drafted in the first round, the team has the option to extend it for a fifth year.
Because Sewell is still under contract for the current season, he is set to earn little more than $7.6 million in 2024; but, if the Lions add a fifth year, his deal would increase significantly in 2025.
Most contemporary NFL contracts have incentives that compensate players based on performance, and such stipulations are integrated into rookie contracts. Players who are eligible for fifth-year options have already received a contractual rise based on their position.
OverTheCap.com, a prominent salary cap website, does an excellent job at calculating the costs of fifth-year options for each eligible player depending on the incentives triggered.
For Sewell, OTC anticipates a fifth-year option for $19,718,000 for the 2025 season.
Here’s how they got at that number. Because Sewell was selected seventh overall in the 2021 NFL draft, his base fifth-year option was scheduled to begin at $15.4 million. Based on playing time—he has played nearly every offensive action in his three-year stint with the Lions—the cost rises to $16.2 million. A single Pro Bowl selection increases that figure to $19.7 million, while a second Pro Bowl raises it to $21.7 million.
While Sewell had two Pro Bowl appearances in his career, the first time he was named, he was added as an alternate, so it does not count towards the fifth-year option. Only his 2023-24 Pro Bowl selection, which was voted on during the first selection process, counts.
Now that the season is over, the Lions have the opportunity to pick up or decline Sewell’s fifth-year option, which they can exercise at any moment. This window concludes on May 2, 2024, exactly one week after the start of the 2024 NFL Draft.
The Lions’ decision to exercise the option should be straightforward. At only 23 years old, Sewell is already widely regarded as the finest player on this roster. In addition to his two Pro Bowl selections, Sewell was awarded a first-team All-Pro this season and was voted the top offensive lineman in the NFL by PFF. Sewell began to emerge as a loud leader in his second year with the organisation, was named captain in 2023, and was the player who broke down huddles with heated speeches before each game.
