Broncos GM Forecasts WR Jerry Jeudy's Fifth-Year Option Decision

Do the Denver Broncos plan to keep Jerry Jeudy around beyond 2023?

This week, the Denver Broncos have descended on Indianapolis for the NFL Scouting Combine. Kicking off the proceedings, we got to hear from NFL general managers and head coaches on Tuesday, which gave us another shot to glean valuable insight into how the new George Paton/Sean Payton regime plans to attack this offseason. 

One of the big unanswered questions for Denver is the future of wideout Jerry Jeudy, and, more specifically, whether to exercise his fifth-year option. Paton spoke to that in Indy. 

“Really happy with how Jerry finished off the season, especially the last couple of games," Paton said on Tuesday. "We make those decisions, I believe in May, right near the draft. We’ll make that decision. Really happy with where Jerry is at.”

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Even though Jeudy is entering his fourth season, NFL teams have to decide whether to exercise that fifth-year option a year in advance. As Paton intimated, the deadline is in May. 

It's viewed as a virtual lock that the Broncos will exercise Jeudy's option, but if the team had been forced to make this decision a year ago, I'm not so certain they would have made the same call. 

Jeudy produced a solid, if unspectacular, rookie campaign, which was followed by a disappointing, injury-plagued second season. Entering his third year, the bloom had really fallen off the Jeudy rose, but with Russell Wilson arriving, optimism was high that the former first-rounder out of Alabama could find his footing and start touching that sky-high ceiling. 

Courtland Sutton opened the year as Wilson's defacto No. 1 target, with Jeudy as the No. 2. While Wilson consistently force-fed the ball to Sutton, despite much return on investment by way of game-changing production, Jeudy kind of bided his time. 

Down the stretch, however, something shifted. Jeudy went off, and by season's end, he'd clearly leap-frogged Sutton as the first read in the progression that Wilson was looking for. Jeudy exploded in the final six games of the campaign, totaling 37 receptions for 523 yards and three touchdowns, finishing his third year with 67 receptions for 972 yards and six scores, all of which led Denver's receiving corps.

Now, take that late-season production and transpose it over a Sean Payton offense, and you can quickly see why the Broncos' GM is so "happy" with where Jeudy is at. 

In the NFL, nothing is guaranteed, but it would be a complete shock if the Broncos did not pick up Jeudy's option. Payton is already likely daydreaming about all the ways he can utilize this fantastic play-making weapon come the fall. 

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