Atlanta Falcons head honcho Matt Ryan hasn't done much in the way of improving the team's roster this offseason. However, he has done an A+ job of retaining their best players and locking them up with long-term contract extensions.
That work began with the four-year, $141 million deal the Falcons gave top wide receiver Drake London, followed by a three-year, $54 million contract
for tight end Kyle Pitts.After a pause of a few weeks, Atlanta got back to business, inking starting left guard Matthew Bergeron to a four-year, $96 million extension. Finally, superstar running back Bijan Robinson re-signed on a three-year, $66.75 million deal earlier this week.
Those last two deals the Falcons got done have been ranked among the top-10 most-interesting
recent deals around the NFL by Seth Walder at ESPN. He ranked the Robinson deal third on his list.
"Ninety percent of resource-intensive transactions involving running backs are going to earn critiques from me, but I'm making an exception here (and with Gibbs below). Robinson is a true difference-maker and the best player at the position... And Robinson is only 24 years old. Running backs age quickly, but Robinson is young enough to be able to contribute to the team's next contending window, which is what truly matters. Atlanta has plenty of cap space going forward, so this is a logical way to use some of it."
The Falcons also secured the final spot on the list, with Bergeron's deal coming in at No. 10. Walder is much more negative about this one compared with Robinson's deal.
"This number caught me off guard. Bergeron is solid, but he's not even the best guard on his team. Yet he just tied Tyler Smith for the highest APY among NFL guards... But I can't imagine the Falcons needed to go this high to get this deal done. And if Bergeron wouldn't budge on compensation, then they should have rolled the dice and let him play out his rookie contract."
Robinson and Pitts got fair-market deals from Atlanta, but you can make a case that both Bergeron and London were overpaid by just a bit. Neither contract is radically out of line with what they deserve, though.
If the Falcons feel like getting one more big deal done before the season begins, they should extend safety Jessie Bates III, which could save them over $10 million in cap space, per Over the Cap.
This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: Falcons have 2 of ESPN's 10 'most-interesting' recent contracts
