Washington Commanders defensive end Chase Young is facing the prospect of playing next season without a new contract. Coming off an ACL injury, Young was eased back into action and played the last three games of the season.
Having a player go through the fifth-year option worked well for Washington last year, as star defensive end Daron Payne had a career-best season and earned a big payday because of it.
But is adding motivation to play for a new contract what the Commanders want to do with Young?
“No, with Chase it's really all about the health more than anything else," Rivera said, having noted that it is a "delicate situation.''
"One of the real positives, he went, and saw Dr. [James] Andrews. Dr. Andrews gave him a bill of clean health ... Now for us, it's just, OK, let's go through this, let's see how he continues and then we'll see, we'll see him, we'll continue to discuss it.”
With Young a Pro Bowler in his rookie season as he played 15 games and registered 7.5 sacks before the injury in his second season. So, we know what kind of talent the former first-round selection possesses.
After being eased back into action last season, Young will be looking at getting stronger and stronger as the offseason continues. But do the Commanders want to keep the former Ohio State Buckeye in the nation's capital despite being on his fifth-year option?
“I think the biggest thing more than anything else is we're continuing to finish that process, we really are, I mean, one of those things that you've gotta really think it through, you've gotta be able to plan it out," Rivera said.
"We like what we're seeing. His progress has gone very, very well. He continues to workout and just get stronger, there's some real positive signs right now.”
Some signs point to a deal getting done at some point, but is the current ownership situation making things a little tricky for Washington right now to close the deal with Young?
"With the situation we're in right now waiting on, like everybody else to find out ownership," Rivera said. "We gotta kind of drag our feet a little bit until we get to that point and find out, do we have to find out from whoever the new ownership is? But I know we are still talking about it ...''
There appears to be a want-to get Young tied down to a new deal. He is getting healthy, and things look positive, but with the uncertainty surrounding the ownership sale, we may have to wait a little bit longer to see that Young extension.
Follow Adam Schultz on Twitter
More must-reads: