Agreed. Also, when you choose options over salary then their cost is greater than $0 because thats money you otherwise would have received had you chosen salar

Agreed. Also, when you choose options over salary then their cost is greater than $0 because thats money you otherwise would have received had you chosen salary. When the options cannot be exercised because they have little to no value (which, in my experience, is nearly always the case) then you actually lose money.