Falcons To Focus On New Contracts For LT Jake Matthews & DT Grady Jarrett

Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff said in an interview 92.9 The Game Monday morning (per Kelsey Conway) that they plan to turn their attention to new contracts for LT Jake Matthews and DT Grady Jarrett now that they’ve signed QB Matt Ryan to a record-breaking contract.

Matthews, 26, was taken with the No. 6 overall pick by the Falcons back in 2014. He played out the final year of his four-year, $16.5 million rookie contract, but the Falcons picked up his fifth-year option last May.

Matthews stands to make a base salary of $12.496 million for the 2018 season before becoming an unrestricted free agent next year.

In 2017, Matthews appeared in all 16 games for the Falcons and was rated by Pro Football Focus as the No. 14 offensive tackle out of 81 qualifying players.

Jarrett, 25, is a former fifth-round pick of the Falcons back in 2015. He’s currently in the final year of his four-year, $2.527 million contract and set to make a base salary of $1.907 million for the 2018 season.

Jarrett will be an unrestricted free agent in 2019.

In 2017, Jarrett appeared in all 16 games for the Falcons and recorded 55 tackles and four sacks. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 14 interior defensive lineman out of 122 qualifying players.

We’ll have more regarding extensions for both players as the news is available.