The Raiders must decide by Monday if they will pick up the fifth-year contract option on cornerback D.J. Hayden.
In all actuality, it’s not much of a decision. The Raiders would owe Hayden $8.026 million if they exercised the option to lock him up for the 2017 season. If they decline, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent following the 2016 season.
Hayden’s productive level as the team’s 2012 first-round pick has come nowhere near matching even the nearly $3.3 million he’s slated to receive this year so an $8 million option is almost assuredly off the table.