Vikings exercise options for Rhodes, Floyd; will not pick up Patterson's

The Vikings have officially exercised the fifth-year options for two of their 2013 first-round draft picks , defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd and cornerback Xavier Rhodes. But they will not pick up the option for fellow first-rounder Cordarrelle Patterson, a kick returner and seldom-used wide receiver.

The options will keep Rhodes and Floyd under team control through 2017. Patterson, meanwhile, will be a free agent after this season.

The Vikings informed those players about their intentions this morning.

In 2017, Rhodes, entering his third year as a Vikings starter, will make $8,026,000. That is the fifth-year option salary for a cornerback drafted between picks No. 11 and 32 in 2013, per CBS Sports. The option figure for Floyd, who has played well when healthy, is $6,757,000.

And then there is Patterson, who did not play on offense at all down the stretch in 2015 and has 863 career receiving yards through three NFL seasons. The writing was on the wall for Patterson even before the Vikings drafted Mississippi's Laquon Treadwell in the first round Thursday night.

The Vikings have told Patterson they won't pick his option up, according to a source. His option figure would have been $7,915,000, which is too much for a kickoff returner. They'll make him prove it as a receiver in 2016.

This is the third year that the Vikings had to make decisions on fifth-year options. Two years ago, they passed on picking up the option for 2011 top pick Christian Ponder. Last spring, they exercised the options for Matt Kalil and Harrison Smith, keeping them under contract through 2016.

Some teams announced weeks ago that they are picking up those options for their players. But the Vikings and General Manager Rick Spielman typically take it down to the wire because you never know what could happen — a fluke non-football injury, an arrest, the release of a video showing that player smoking some kind of substance while wearing a gas mask, etc.