Will the Patriots pick up Isaiah Wynn’s 5th-year option?

The New England Patriots may have an exciting offseason ahead of them, but it’s certainly going to be stressful.

Will they find a quarterback? What about some much-needed top-notch skill position players? A little help on defense?

The good news is that the Pats have the necessary cap space to make their dreams come true. They also possess a favorable draft spot.

But fans can’t forget they have some difficult decisions to make, one of which is making a call on offensive lineman Isaiah Wynn’s fifth-year option.

Why is that? Well, the deadline is in a few months and Wynn’s inability to stay healthy may not have the organization feeling keen on investing millions more in the former first-round pick. The fifth-year option value is the average of the third to 25th highest salaries at the position. That’ll be a significant raise up from his $3.64 million cap hit in 2021.

The 25-year-old was drafted back in 2018 and has been significantly hampered by injuries ever since.

Here’s what Patriots insider Mike Reiss wrote in his ESPN column on Sunday:

"“A sneaky-important decision for the Patriots is coming up with 2018 first-round pick Isaiah Wynn, as they must determine whether to pick up his fully-guaranteed fifth-year option for 2022 by May 3 of this year. Franchise left tackles are hard to find, and Wynn could still fit in that category. But given his injury history (18 of 48 games played), they would be taking a leap of faith he can reverse that trend.”"

Perhaps the Patriots opt to move him to the inside and draft a left tackle in April. After all, there’s been some chatter about moving Wynn to one of the guard positions since David Andrews and Joe Thuney are hitting free agency.

In this scenario, Wynn could begin working his way back into the team’s good graces by proving his value, but he won’t be as integral as a cog as he would be at left tackle. The Pats can’t afford to lose their blindside protector yet again, and Wynn playing on the inside could drive his price down in free agency since left tackles are significantly more expensive than guards. This could help New England whether Wynn’s option is picked up or not.

Either way, just know the Pats are faced with these option deadlines with both Wynn and running back Sony Michel. There are a lot of layers to his offseason.

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