Falcons make Lindstrom NFL’s top-paid guard

• Previously covered University of Michigan for ESPN.com and AnnArbor.com
• Also covered Notre Dame for Fort Wayne Journal Gazette

The Atlanta Falcons are giving Pro Bowl right guard Chris Lindstrom a five-year extension, the franchise announced Monday.

The deal is for five years and $105 million, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Jeremy Fowler, making him the NFL’s highest paid guard and will now keep him with the club through the 2028 season.

His average of $21 million per year surpasses Indianapolis guard Quenton Nelson’s $20.2 million average annual value for the highest for a guard in NFL history. Only Lindstrom and Nelson have been over $20 million.

Lindstrom, 26, was Atlanta’s first round pick in 2019 out of Boston College and part of a history of his family to play in the NFL, including his father, Chris.

After starting five games his rookie year, he’s been in the lineup for every game for the Falcons over the last three seasons, a mainstay on Atlanta’s offensive line. Lindstrom is a clear technician, as he’s been called for one holding penalty in his four-year career – and that came in 2022.

“Chris is such a technician and a lot of the stuff in there about hand placement and where it’s at-that one right there, you’re out in space or whatever the optics of it is but Chris does a nice job,” Falcons head coach Arthur Smith said in January. “He works really hard on his craft; he’s got quick hands and you see the way that he punches. He plays the right way, and his hands are usually inside.”

Lindstrom had a 92.7 pass block win rate last season, according to ESPN Stats & Information, and a run block win rate of 73%.

In extending Lindstrom, Atlanta locks up two of its centerpieces of the offensive line – left tackle Jake Matthews and Lindstrom – until potentially 2026.

Lindstrom said after the season he wanted to remain in Atlanta – he was going into his fifth-year option year – and that he hoped the franchise and his agents would be able to get something done.

“I want to be here,” Lindstrom said in January. “I want to be a Falcon for my whole career.”

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