Some NFL teams are always looking for ways to manipulate the NFL salary cap. Financial flexibility in a league where things change fast is paramount. One recent tactic has been the deployment of option bonuses.

What is the NFL option bonus? The option bonus is a form of compensation that an NFL team pays to a player, at a predetermined time, that can be charged against the salary cap in various ways, giving the teams financial flexibility.

In previous eras, option bonuses were attached to option contracts, which were popular in the 1970s and 1980s, but have mostly faded from the contemporary NFL landscape. Today, in most cases, when option bonuses are utilized, it’s all about financial flexibility and cap management, therefore the bonuses are treated just like signing bonus; the option bonuses are allowed to be prorated over the life of the contract (up to a maximum of five seasons).

 

Modern Use of Option Bonuses

Teams have been inserting options bonuses into contracts and, at first glance, they actually appear to be roster bonuses—due to be paid early in one particular league year and slated to fully count against the salary cap in that same league year.

However, the team will insert language allowing them to convert these bonuses as if they were signing bonuses, allowing the team to then prorate the bonuses over the length of the contract.

 

Great Use of the Option Bonus: Jalen Hurts

In 2023, the Eagles’ GM Howie Roseman structured a mega deal for QB Jalen Hurts. In that deal, Roseman and the Eagles creatively deployed option bonuses.

In 2025, Hurts’ base salary is slated to be only $1.17 million. But he will also be paid an option bonus of $40.83 million. At first glance, the option bonus seems to be a roster bonus.

Entering the 2025 season, the Eagles had the option to convert the option bonus into a roster bonus or base salary. If they had chosen to convert the option bonus to a roster bonus, the full sum of $40.83 million would have been paid to Hurts in one lump sum, in March, and it would have fully counted against the 2025 salary cap.

The Eagles also had the option of converting the option bonus to base salary for Hurts—boosting his base salary from $1.17 million to $42million—in which case the option bonus sum would have been paid out over the course of the 2025 season, in Hurts’ weekly game checks, and the entire amount would count against the 2025 salary cap.

The third option (which happens to be the one the Eagles selected) would be to pay Hurts the full amount of the option bonus, in one lump sum, before the start of the 2025 season, and then prorate the full amount over five seasons—in which case only one-fifth of that $40.83 million amount would count against the 2025 cap. And then, an additional one-fifth of the option bonus amount would count against the salary cap in each of the next four seasons (2026–2029).

Hurts is scheduled to receive additional large option bonuses in 2026, 2027, and 2028. This creative structure provides great financial flexibility for both the team and the player.

 

Teams Using Option Bonuses

According to Overthecap.com, the NFL teams that have most often used these types of option bonuses over the last few seasons are the Eagles, Saints, Steelers, Falcons, Seahawks, Buccaneers, Panthers, Cardinals, and Packers. In fact, one analyst referred to these NFL teams as option bonus “abusers.” And among these teams, the Eagles and the Saints have been identified as “serial abusers.”

On the flipside, the NFL teams that have utilized these types of option bonuses the least over the last few seasons are the Colts, Jets, Dolphins, Chiefs, Bengals, and Titans.

 

Fifth-Year Options for First-Round Rookies

The NFL fifth-year option for first-round selections is structured similarly to the older traditional way in which options worked in the NFL—teams unilaterally elected to extend a player’s contract for one year, in exchange for a bonus or some guaranteed monies. The fifth-year option applies to any player drafted in the first round of the NFL draft.

Every player drafted in the first round of the NFL draft must be signed to a four-year contract by the team that drafted them. Then, before the start of year four, the team can opt to extend the contract for a fifth season—in the team’s sole discretion. The salary for the fifth year becomes fully guaranteed the moment it’s exercised.

 

Conclusion

The use of option clauses in contracts and option bonuses has dramatically changed throughout the decades in the NFL. Today, with the exception of the fifth-year option for the first-round rookie draft picks, option bonuses are now all about financial flexibility and salary cap management, no longer attached to traditional option clauses. The NFL teams that are seeking to be creative are likely to continue and expand their use of these option bonuses.