{"id":22588,"date":"2025-05-04T07:28:10","date_gmt":"2025-05-04T07:28:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/22588\/"},"modified":"2025-05-04T07:28:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-04T07:28:10","slug":"green-bay-packers-reporter-explains-why-team-declined-quay-walkers-fifth-year-option","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/22588\/","title":{"rendered":"Green Bay Packers reporter explains why team declined Quay Walker\u2019s fifth-year option"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/sportsnaut.com\/tag\/green-bay-packers\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Green Bay Packers;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Green Bay Packers<\/a> have received strong returns from their 2022 NFL Draft class, with linebacker Quay Walker and defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt among the numerous starters from that group. While Wyatt had his fifth-year option for 2026 picked up, Green Bay went a different route with Waker.<\/p>\n<p>As <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RobDemovsky\/status\/1918010572513136779\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Rob Demovsky;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Rob Demovsky<\/a> of ESPN explained, the Packers\u2019 decision not to exercise the fifth-year club option on Walker\u2019s contract isn\u2019t a reflection on their desire to keep him. Instead, the team is prioritizing a multi-year extension while avoiding being locked into a fully guaranteed salary in 2026.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/article\/nfl-defense-rankings-2025-evaluating-183452625.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:NFL defense rankings 2025, see where the Green Bay Packers land;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NFL defense rankings 2025, see where the Green Bay Packers land<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Quay Walker stats (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/player\/stats\/_\/id\/4379416\/quay-walker\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:ESPN;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">ESPN<\/a>): 72 solo tackles, 2.5 sacks, 2 pass deflections, 10 stuffs<\/p>\n<p>Walker\u2019s salary in 2026 would\u2019ve been $14.751 million if Green Bay had exercised it. That would\u2019ve ranked seventh among the highest-paid inside linebackers in the NFL. Furthermore, it would\u2019ve meant Wyatt and Walker would be receiving more than $27 million guaranteed in 2026.<\/p>\n<p>Walker, the 22nd overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, has flashed outstanding playmaking ability throughout his career. He showed more improvement with his discipline and awareness last season, pairing with rookie Edgerrin Cooper to give Green Bay its strongest linebacker tandem in more than a decade.<\/p>\n<p>Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/sportsnaut.com\/nfl-power-rankings-all-32-teams-updated-weekly\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:NFL power rankings 2025, find out where the Green Bay Packers rank;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">NFL power rankings 2025, find out where the Green Bay Packers rank<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Quay Walker contract (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spotrac.com\/nfl\/player\/_\/id\/76876\/quay-walker\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Spotrac;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Spotrac<\/a>): $4.404 million salary in 2025, 2026 NFL free agent<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>While declining the fifth-year option opens the door for Walker to test NFL free agency in 2026, the decision also suggests the Packers\u2019 front office is confident it can get a long-term deal worked out. If that happens, Green Bay could structure the deal to use some of the team\u2019s cap space this season and thus provide more flexibility to improve the roster in the years to come.<\/p>\n<p>Related Headlines<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Green Bay Packers have received strong returns from their 2022 NFL Draft class, with linebacker Quay Walker&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22589,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2072],"tags":[474,2998,7,41,345,2514,2513,6,15,428,468],"class_list":{"0":"post-22588","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-green-bay-packers","8":"tag-devonte-wyatt","9":"tag-edgerrin-cooper","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-green-bay","12":"tag-green-bay-packers","13":"tag-greenbay","14":"tag-greenbaypackers","15":"tag-nfl","16":"tag-nfl-draft","17":"tag-packers","18":"tag-quay-walker"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22588\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}