Three up-and-down seasons into his career, the writing was on the wall: the New England Patriots will not pick up the fifth-year option in the rookie contract of offensive lineman Cole Strange, who had originally joined the team as the 29th overall selection in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft.

Let’s assess what the team’s decision means.

Make-or-break season awaits

The Patriots declining Strange’s fifth-year option first and foremost means one thing: he is scheduled to enter unrestricted free agency next March. As a consequence, he will need to prove himself worthy of a new contract either in New England or elsewhere over the next 10 months.

How will he do that? Given his recent injury history — he played just 13 of a possible 34 games in 2023 and 2024 — the first step is staying healthy. Then, it’s about pushing for a starting job along the Patriots’ interior offensive line again.

Strange will seemingly have two chances to do so, both at left guard and at center. Given what has turned into a bit of a logjam at the latter position with Garrett Bradbury and third-round draft pick Jared Wilson now atop the depth chart, it appears the former might be his best chance to do so. At the moment, 2023 fourth-round draft pick Layden Robinson seems to be Strange’s main competition for the starting position.

Saving some cash

Using the fifth-year option on Strange would have allowed the Patriots to keep him around through 2026, but it also would have come at a steep price. Had the tem exercised it, Strange would have cost a fully guaranteed $16.7 million against the salary cap next year.

That number would not just have ranked seventh on the team in 2026, but also 18th among all interior offensive linemen in the NFL that year. While those rankings would obviously still be subject to change between now and next March, they do show why New England was hesitant to tie itself to its former first-round investment beyond the original length of his rookie pact.

In 2025, Strange is counting $3.9 million against the cap — 24th on the Patriots’ roster and 56th in a league-wide comparison.

2026 free agency class grows

With Strange’s contract officially set to expire next offseason, the Patriots now have 25 players headed for free agency in March.

Strange is one of 11 players classified as unrestricted free agents. New England also will have five restricted and nine exclusive rights free agents. It goes without saying, though, that those numbers will look a lot different come the actual start of the 2026 league year; the list currently still includes various roster long-shots.

Underwhelming company

The NFL introduced the fifth-year contract option for first-round draft picks as part of the 2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement. Including Strange, New England has had 10 opportunities to use the option since then. Only four times has the team actually done so.

The Patriots picked up the option for Nate Solder (2011), Chandler Jones (2012), Dont’a Hightower (2012) and Isaiah Wynn (2018). Meanwhile, Dominique Easley (2014), Malcom Brown (2015), Sony Michel (2018), N’Keal Harry (2019), Mac Jones (2021) and now Cole Strange (2024) never saw their rookie deals extended into a fifth season.

Looking across the league, the Patriots are one of 12 teams not to make use of the option for one of their 2022 first-round selections.