NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement
Rookie Compensation and Rookie Compensation Pool
Section 7(a)Fifth-Year Option for First Round Selections
(a)
Exercise Period. A Club has the unilateral right to extend from four years to five years the term of any Rookie Contract of a player selected in the first round of the Draft (the “Fifth-Year Option”). To do so, the Club must give written notice to the player after the final regular season game of the player’s third season but prior to May 3 of the following League Year (i.e., year four of the contract). Any notice required or permitted to be given by a Club to a player under this Section shall be sent either by personal delivery, or by overnight mail, or be electronic mail in .pdf form, in each case a confirmation copy shall also be sent by first class mail, addressed as follows: