The Patriots have officially exercised their fifth-year option on Nate Solder, reports Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports (via Twitter). As our tracker shows, it’ll be worth about $7.438MM.
The 26-year old Solder has started 31 of 32 games at left tackle for the Patriots over the past two seasons. The option will most likely keep Solder with the team for at least the next two seasons. While the team will most likely prefer to negotiate a long-term contract extension before or during the option year, they will still be able to exercise the franchise tag on Solder should they fail to secure a long-term deal.
Pro Football Focus graded Solder is the eighth best left tackle in 2013, and the ninth best tackle overall (subscription required).