The Green Bay Packers have a tough decision to make regarding safety Darnell Savage. The Packers selected the former Maryland star in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft with the 21^st overall pick. The NFL’s collective bargaining agreement (CBA) gives teams the ability to sign rookies to a four-year deal for their entry-level contract. But for first-round draft picks, teams have the option to extend their contract by one more season. This is known as the fifth-year option and it must be exercised prior to the start of the player’s fourth season in the NFL.

When teams make that choice, there are set salaries for the one-year extension that gives teams control of the player for a fifth season. Savage’s 2023 cap hit would be approximately $7.92 million.

The big question is whether it is wise to extend Savage for a fifth year at that price. If they don’t exercise the fifth-year option, Savage would become an unrestricted free agent in March of 2023 unless he and the team agree to an extension. If the Packers do pick up Savage’s fifth-year option, he would not become a UFA until March 2024 and the team would have his services for two more seasons.

Savage’s play has been up and down since he joined the Packers. He earned All-Rookie honors in 2019 mainly on the strength of his coverage skills. He started 16 games as a rookie and made two interceptions while limiting opposing quarterbacks to a 56.7 percent completion percentage when they threw to receivers covered by him according to pro-football-reference.com.

His biggest weakness was considered his tackling. Savage is a smaller player at 5’11” and 198-pounds and at times, he missed tackles and failed to wrap up receivers after they caught the football.

In his second season, Savage got off to a slow start but he was playing at a Pro Bowl level late in the year. The light seemed to come on for Savage and he and Adrian Amos became one of the best safety duos in the NFL. Their strong play was a major reason the Packers finished 2020 with a six-game winning streak.

In the final six games of the 2020 campaign, Savage intercepted four passes, made 26 tackles including two tackles for loss and broke up seven passes. He was playing well in pass coverage and making plays in the box when he was lined up near the line of scrimmage. Then defensive coordinator Mike Pettine was comfortable playing Savage closer to the line because he relied on the steadiness of Adrian Amos to cover things in the secondary. This minor adjustment made a big difference for Savage and the Green Bay defense.

But in 2021, the Packers replaced Pettine with Joe Barry. There was hope after training camp that Barry’s defense would be a great fit for Savage and there was talk Savage could even be a candidate for the “star” position in Barry’s defense.

Towards the end of training camp, quarterback Aaron Rodgers told Larry McCarren, “I think this defense really fits him. He’s able to be a lot more rangier. You look at his skill set, extremely athletic and fast, can cover sideline to sideline, but he’s got good instincts as well. So, I think this is going to allow him to be in a position to make a lot more plays.”

Unfortunately, Savage took a step back in 2021 and was less consistent. Although he played in all 17 games in 2021, he made 12 fewer tackles, two fewer interceptions, broke up three fewer passes and one fewer tackle for loss.

Opposing quarterback also had more success throwing to receivers covered by Savage. They completed 64.9 percent of their passes and had a quarterback rating of 117.4, up from just 67.3 the previous season.

Instead of building on his strong finish to 2020, Savage was less consistent and making fewer impact plays in his third NFL season. That’s not to say he was bad, but his performance was disappointing.

Now, GM Brian Gutekunst must decide whether it makes sense to exercise the fifth-year option on Savage and pay him $7.92 million in 2023. Part of that decision will be determining whether Savage’s play in 2021 was just an off year or more indicative of what his true long-term play will look like going forward. The Packers future salary cap situation is also an issue although the cap is expected to go up significantly in 2023 as the NFL’s new television deals start to kick in.

Right now, it makes sense to give Savage the fifth year and then determine whether he deserves a second, long-term deal that would keep him in Green Bay through the prime of his career. But Gutekunst will have the ultimate decision on Savage’s future.