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Only 17 Players From 2016 Draft Had 5th-Year Options Picked Up This Year

The Pittsburgh Steelers have not been overly pleased with their 2016 first-round draft pick, cornerback Artie Burns. As it turns out, that hasn’t been an unpopular view among teams, as not far from half of all players selected in the first round that year failed to have their fifth-year options picked up, or have in fact already been released.

17 of the 31 players drafted that year (that was the year that the New England Patriots were stripped of a first-round pick) had their fifth-year option picked up, while 14 had their options declined.