The team exercised the fifth-year option on left tackle Jake Matthews on Tuesday.
Matthews, who was selected sixth in the first round of the 2014 draft, has played in 47 regular-season games, all starts. He missed one game his rookie season.
Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff said after the pre-draft news conference Thursday that the team planned to exercise the option.
Matthews originally signed a four-year contract worth $16.5 million. He’s now under contract through the 2018 season, with the option being worth $12.3 million.
Matthews was rushed into action at left tackle as a rookie after Sam Baker went down with a knee injury in the third exhibition game. He received his promotion on “Hard Knocks” when then-offensive line coach Mike Tice told him that he was moving from right tackle to left tackle.
Matthews has been steady, though playing below the Pro Bowl level.
Matthews, who played 978 snaps last season, had a rating of 77.6 overall, ccording to profootballfocus.com, which ranked 34th among offensive tackles last season. He had a 81 grade in pass blocking, but just a 59 in the run game. Under profootballfocus.com’s scoring system, 75 is considered average.
Matthews is the son of Hall of Famer Bruce Matthews.
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