The Seattle Seahawks will not pick up the fifth-year option of right tackle Germain Ifedi for the 2020 season, a source told ESPN's Brady Henderson.
Ifedi started 15 games last season and is still under contract for the upcoming season. He would be set to make $10.35 million in 2020 if Seattle picked up his option.
Friday is the deadline for teams to exercise their fifth-year options on rookie contracts for players selected in the first round of the 2016 draft.
Ifedi was selected 31st in 2016 -- the final pick in the first round because the New England Patriots forfeited their pick following the "Deflategate" scandal.
Ifedi showed improvement in 2018, which was his second season at right tackle and his first season under new offensive line coach Mike Solari. But the $10.35 million salary for his fifth-year option was too steep of a price for the Seahawks to pay. Ifedi is set to make $1.58 million in base salary this season.
Ifedi, who turns 25 in June, started at right guard as a rookie before moving to right tackle in 2017. He led the league with 16 accepted penalties in 2017, according to ESPN charting data, and reduced that total to 10 last season. According to research by ESPN's Seth Walder, Ifedi had a Pass Block Win Rate of 82 percent in 2018, finishing just above the league average of 81 percent for offensive tackles.
George Fant and Jamarco Jones are in-house options who could replace Ifedi after this season, assuming he's not extended. Fant started at left tackle as an undrafted rookie in 2016, missed the following season with a torn ACL and then served as a frequently used extra tackle in heavy packages last year. The Seahawks gave him a second-round tender as a restricted free agent that will pay him $3.095 million this season. Jones, a 2018 fifth-round pick, missed his rookie season due to an ankle injury.
The Seahawks have now declined all three of the fifth-year options they've had since the option was implemented into rookie contracts for first-round picks with the new CBA in 2011. The other two were offensive lineman James Carpenter and outside linebacker Bruce Irvin, who were drafted in 2011 and 2012, respectively. Seattle didn't make a first-round pick in 2013, 2014 or 2015.