The Broncos will not exercise Shane Ray’s fifth-year option for 2019, multiple sources tell Troy Renck of Denver7 (on Twitter). In recent days, we’ve been hearing that Denver was leaning in this direction.

The Broncos bolstered their pass rush by selecting Bradley Chubb with the No. 5 overall pick in this year’s draft, which crowded their outside linebacker group even further. Rather than overcommitting dollars to the OLB unit, the Broncos will allow Ray to play out the 2018 season with unrestricted free agency on the horizon next year.

The option for the former No. 23 overall pick would have cost Denver $9.232MM. He’ll carry a much more palatable cap number of $2.9MM in 2018 , making him an interesting trade chip for Denver. An acquiring team would take on just $1.678MM in base salary and, unlike other members of the 2015 draft class who have had their options declined, Ray has produced in the past. In his first two NFL seasons, the Missouri product tallied 12 sacks. Unfortunately, he took a step back last season as he missed time and recorded only one sack.

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