What salary will a player selected 12th overall in the 2021 NFL Draft receive in 2025 if his club exercises the fifth-year option?

The correct answer reflects the guidelines set forth in the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement concerning the fifth-year option for first-round draft picks. When a team exercises the fifth-year option for a player selected in the first round, the player's salary for that fifth year is determined by the average of the third through twentieth highest salaries at his position during the prior league year.

This structure is designed to provide a fair assessment of the player's value based on the salaries of comparable players, ensuring that there is a balance between rewarding performance and keeping pay structures manageable for teams. Establishing the fifth-year salary based on a range of salaries allows for a more equitable approach, as it accounts for variations in contract negotiations across the league, rather than relying solely on the highest earners or minimum salary thresholds.

In this case, while some of the other options reference minimum salaries or averages of lower thresholds, they do not apply to the specific provisions surrounding the fifth-year option for first-round players, which is where the focus on salaries ranked from third to twentieth highest at the position comes into play.