A “sink” output and a “relay” output are two very different things. A sinking output provides a path to ground through a solid-state circuit usually at a low capacity (100 to 200 mA). They are generally used to drive relays and are used to provide flexibility. If your PLC/PAC has a sink type output meant to drive an interposing relay, then the relay can be a type and size to fit the application where as if you have the relay within the PLC/PAC then it needs to be compatible with the application and when it fails (which it will at some point in time) you generally have to replace the whole PLC/PAC or an I/O card.
A relay output is just that, a physical relay built into the PLC/PAC or a modular card and it will have a physical set of contacts. They typically can handle a much higher load than a sink output can but the drawback is that they are limited to their specs and when damaged or worn out the entire PLC/PAC or card must be replaced.
In your case, if the output fails, it can fail in a state where it will “leak”. Typically when this happens it’s not enough to drive a relay (only a few milliamps) but they can fail with enough of a current leak to allow the relay to close.