The Atlanta Falcons don’t have a lot of easy calls this offseason, but here’s one they made with what one assumes was a minimal amount of debate: Picking up Keanu Neal’s fifth-year option.
Neal’s physical style of play opens him to injury, sure, and he spent the majority of the 2018 season on the shelf. When he’s on the field, he’s a physical tone setter capable of forcing turnovers, and the defense is clearly better when he’s playing. That’s why spending just $6.7 million on him in 2020, when his fifth year option kicks in, is about as easy a call as you can possibly make.