Kaleb McGary Contract gets High Marks from PFF

The Atlanta Falcons and Kaleb McGary came to terms on a three-year contract on Tuesday according to reports.

The deal is reported to be three years and $34.5 million for McGary with guaranteed money yet to be disclosed. We had previously speculated that three years and $45 million with $30 million guaranteed would be a good opening point for negotiations with McGary.

The Falcons were able to get a deal done for significantly less than that.

Pro Football Focus (PFF) agrees that this is a terrific deal for the Falcons, and McGary still gets a significant pay increase from the $1.9 million he made on the fourth year of his rookie contract last year.

PFF gave two grades for the deal, fit/need, and value.

The Falcons got ‘A’s for both.

McGary’s 91.6 PFF run-blocking grade in 2022 was second only to the San Francisco 49ers‘ Trent Williams among offensive tackles, and third across all offensive linemen. It was by far the best season of his career to date, but McGary has improved every season since entering the NFL as the 31st overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft out of Washington.

Atlanta reset the guard market earlier this week extending right guard Chris Lindstrom, and now the team brings back McGary on a multi-year deal, as well. Former Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff selected both players in the first round in 2019, and both now stick around on veteran contracts. — PFF

PFF may have been McGary’s biggest fan this season. He was ranked the No. 4 offensive tackle, left or right, by their grading system in 2022. He was ranked significantly higher than players like Mike McGlinchey (No. 35) and Juwaan Taylor (No. 65) who signed deals for more than double the money with the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs respectively.

With just one good/great season under his belt and seemingly fit for just a run-heavy scheme, McGary may have seen his value deflated on the open market. The Falcons were the beneficiary of bringing out the best of McGary in their scheme.

There’s always a concern that McGary could return to his pre-2022 form, but the Falcons didn’t have to overpay to bring him back. There’s still financial flexibility after this season should McGary falter.

I’ve been a big proponent of the Falcons re-signing McGary this season, and the Falcons were able to do it for significantly less money. Some of that savings has gone into the defensive side of the ball that was in dire need of a talent transfusion.

The Falcons have been busy in free agency strengthening the spine of the defense with three additions right up the middle. Atlanta came to terms with defensive tackle David Onyemata (Saints), linebacker Kaden Elliss (Saints), and safety Jessie Bates (Bengals) on Monday.

Atlanta survived cap hell the last two years and managed to develop some of their drafted players like McGary in the process.

After back to back 7-10 seasons with crippling-financial salary cap penalties, expectations are on the rise for the 2023 Atlanta Falcons.