The Washington Commanders will not pick up Chase Young’s fifth-year option ahead of the league’s May 2 deadline, a source with knowledge of the situation said — a decision that will cause the pass rusher to enter the final year of his contract in 2023.
The team informed Young and his agent of the choice, a source said. If the Commanders had picked up the option, Young would have earned a salary of nearly $17.5 million in 2024. Instead, the 24-year-old could become a free agent after next season.
Washington’s decision to decline the option would have been difficult to imagine just two years ago, when Young — the second overall pick in 2020 — emerged as a difference maker for the team’s defense and was named the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year. But the pass rusher has failed to replicate that level of production. In 2021, Young recorded just 1 1/2 sacks in nine games before suffering a season-ending torn ACL.
That knee injury, which was more complicated than a standard ACL tear, left Young mostly sidelined last season and he didn’t return until the final three games. Young had no sacks in any of those outings.
