MINNEAPOLIS -- The decision to pick up a first-round pick's fifth-year option is typically seen as a low-risk move, thanks to the protection available to teams who later decide they want to cut the player before the option comes into effect.
In the curious case of the Minnesota Vikings and defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd, the fifth-year option means a pricey guaranteed contract in 2017 for a player who seemed to be at a crossroads last season.
When teams make the decision to pick up a player's fifth-year option -- as the Vikings did with Floyd last May -- they still have the ability to release the player before the option becomes guaranteed at the start of the new league year.