It’s now official. The deadline has passed for teams to exercise the 5th year option on 2016 first round picks. Raiders safety Karl Joseph was not among them, making this the final year of his rookie contract.
The 14th overall pick in the 2016 draft, Joseph is among the highest drafted players from that year to not get his option picked up. The only players who were drafted higher were 8th overall pick Titans tackle Jack Conklin and 10th overall pick Saints cornerback Eli Apple (originally drafted by the Giants and traded to New Orleans.