The Atlanta Falcons locked up their longest-tenured player -- and aided their cap struggles in the process.
Atlanta gave stalwart left tackle Jake Matthews a two-year contract extension worth up to $45 million on Sunday, according to NFL Network's Mike Garafolo. The deal comes with $38 million guaranteed.
By extending Matthews, the Falcons lowered his cap hit by $7.12 million in 2025 -- enough to get Atlanta below the salary cap budget before the start of the NFL league year at 4 p.m. Wednesday. The Falcons entered the day nearly $5.3 million over budget, according to OverTheCap.
Matthews' cap hit will increase by $2.37 million over each of the next two seasons. He was initially supposed to be a free agent after the 2026 season, but he's now under contract through the 2028 campaign.
The 33-year-old Matthews currently owns the longest streak of consecutive starts in franchise history at 178 games -- he's missed only one game as a professional, coming in Week 2 of his rookie season in 2014.
Matthews, the No. 6 overall pick in 2014, had a solid 2024 season. He received an overall grade of 79.8 by Pro Football Focus, which ranked No. 15 out of 141 tackles across the league, and he was No. 7 overall in pass protection.
The Texas A&M product allowed five sacks, four quarterback hits and 30 overall pressures while being penalized eight times this past season, according to Pro Football Focus.
During the season, then-starting quarterback Kirk Cousins named Matthews as one of several Falcons who he implied are underrated nationally.
"I've played with some really good tackles," Cousins said Oct. 30. "He plays good football, and he's smart, and you just count on him."
Now, the Falcons are counting on Matthews to protect quarterback Michael Penix Jr.'s frontside for the next four seasons -- though his contract may also help build the team a better defense in the immediate future.
The NFL's legal tampering period begins at noon Monday.