42-Year-Old Matt Bryant, Falcons Agree to 3-Year Contract Extension
March 5, 2018
The Atlanta Falcons' all-time leading scorer will remain with the franchise.
According to Will McFadden of the Falcons' official website, Atlanta and kicker Matt Bryant, 42, agreed to a three-year contract extension that will keep him on the team through the 2020 campaign and stop him from hitting free agency on March 14.
Bryant will receive a $2 million signing bonus and a base value of $10.5 million over three years, with a combined payout of $12 million, according to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network.
McFadden noted Bryant's 1,029 points are more than any Falcon has scored in franchise history.
On Feb. 2, Bryant said he wanted to finish his career with the Falcons.
"I'll play two-three more years in this league," he said, per Kelsey Conway of the Falcons' official website. "There's obviously some curious times ahead to see where those two-three years happen. You know I'd like to finish it here with this organization. I guess I have a history here, so I'd like to finish it up here. But you don't know."
The 2016 Pro Bowler has been with Atlanta since 2009 after playing for the New York Giants in 2002 and 2003, the Indianapolis Colts and Miami Dolphins in 2004 and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2005-08.
Bryant hasn't slowed much with age, connecting on 87.2 percent of his field goals in 2017 after making 91.9 of them in 2016 for a Falcons squad that reached the Super Bowl. He was a perfect 8-of-8 in the last two playoffs as well, demonstrating his ability to come through in the most pressure-packed moments.
Bryant is another kicker off the potential free agency market after Adam Vinatieri re-signed with the Colts and Ryan Succop re-signed with the Tennessee Titans this offseason.
Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk noted Sebastian Janikowski, Caleb Sturgis, Chandler Catanzaro and Kai Forbath all appear set for free agency, though, so teams looking for kickers figure to have the opportunity to sign one before the 2018 campaign.