St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado says he's content with the decision he made to not opt out of his contract and test free agency this offseason.

"I definitely think about it," Arenado said Thursday, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post. "But it was a long process to get me here, and it didn't feel right leaving after two years; it just didn't."

Arenado had a clause in his contract that would have allowed him to opt out of the remaining five years and $144 million remaining on an eight-year, $260-million extension he signed with the Colorado Rockies in 2019.

If he had decided to test the open market, Arenado likely would have been able to surpass the figures he locked into through the 2027 season.