Falcons continue paying everyone, give Jake Matthews $75M extension to start training camp
With Atlanta kicking off training camp, the team is handing their starting left tackle a $75 million extension
Happy national left tackle extension day. Not long after the Titans announced a massive extension making Taylor Lewan the highest-paid offensive lineman in NFL history, the Falcons have agreed to terms on a deal that will lock down left tackle Jake Matthews.
We have agreed to terms with Jake Matthews on a 5-year extension.
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) July 27, 2018
STORY: https://t.co/jgkGrbc8Sz pic.twitter.com/1a5JG7dFF9
According to a report from Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, the deal is worth a total of $75 million.
Like Lewan, Matthews was taken in the 2014 NFL Draft (Matthews was the No. 6 overall pick, Lewan No. 11). His new deal will give him the third-highest total valuation for all left tackles, behind only Tyron Smith ($97.6 million) and Lewan ($80 million).
Matthews has been a steady presence as the blind-side protector for Matt Ryan over the past four years and, like Lewan, is an upper-tier left tackle who is in his prime. Matthews turned 26 after the end of the 2018 season and is part of a young core the Falcons are building out in hopes of making another run at the Super Bowl.
Atlanta has been busy this offseason too. First, the Falcons inked Ryan to a record-setting $150 million deal that made him the highest-paid quarterback in the NFL. Recently, the Falcons did whatever was necessary in order to get Julio Jones some kind of "adjustment" that would get him happy and into training camp after an awkward situation that was unfolding in an ugly fashion.
The Falcons even handed out extensions to GM Thomas Dimitroff and coach Dan Quinn.
They're probably not done either, with defensive tackle Grady Jarrett looming as a player who needs some more cash relatively soon.
















