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- According to 9News’ Mike Klis, the Denver Broncos have declined the fifth year option for their 2017 first round pick Garett Bolles.
Broncos declined fifth year option on Garett Bolles per source. #9sports
— Mike Klis (@MikeKlis) May 1, 2020
The option would have counted for $11.064 million. As part of the old Collective Bargaining Agreement, it would have been only guaranteed for injury.
The Broncos have declined Garett Bolles' fifth-year contract option, source confirmed (1st by @MikeKlis). The option was worth $11.064M and guaranteed for injury only.
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) May 1, 2020
Bolles is under contract for 2020, the last year on his rookie deal, and has a guaranteed salary of ~$1.97M.
The decision to decline the option isn’t surprising. John Elway and the Broncos’ spent a lot of time interviewing and showing interest in prospective left tackles from this past 2020 NFL Draft class. In the end, they passed on all of them.
Immediately after the draft Elway said that tackle was a position that needed to improve. Confirming a report by KOA’s Benjamin Allbright from a couple of weeks ago, Elway also said that Elijah Wilkinson would compete with Bolles for the starting left tackle spot this year. Wilkinson played 835 snaps at right tackle a year ago filling in for the injured Ja’Wuan James.
With the option declined, the pressure is now on Bolles to live up to expectations in the last year of his rookie deal. It also raises the possibility that left tackle will be the most pressing need for the 2021 offseason.