THE LINDSTROM FILE
Team: Atlanta Falcons
Position: Offensive Guard
Height: 6-4
Weight: 307
Birthday: February 28, 1997
Age: 26
40-Yard Dash: 4.91 seconds
College: Boston College
Draft: 1st round, 14th pick overall, 2019
Contract: Signed a five-year, $105 million extension 2023
WAG: No girlfriend reported.
Children: Non reported
Record/Accomplishments
· 2nd-team All-Pro, 2022
· 1st-team All-ACC, 2018
· 2nd-team All-ACC, 2017
If the Falcons rebuild is successful, fans will want to remember the extension Atlanta gave offensive guard Chris Lindstrom. Atlanta made Lindstrom the highest paid interior linemen in the NFL with a five-year, $105 million extension.
It may not a be a sexy extension (well, being the highest paid anything is sexy) but this is the kind of team building that can lays the foundation for a playoff team. Lindstrom was the 14th pick in the 2019 NFL Draft out of Boston College and he has developed into one of the elite interior linemen in football.
The Falcons are facing a pivotal season, the third season under Arthur Smith. He has intelligently and methodically gone about the business of rebuilding a team that went to the 2017 Super Bowl. If Desmond Ridder turns out to be the answer at quarterback, a lot will depend on the offensive line.
Lindstrom is the type of foundational piece that can solidify a line, if not a team. He allowed just two sacks and was called for just two penalties. The Falcons were second in the league is rushing offense, gaining 2,718 yards in the ground for averaged of 159.9 yards per game and 4.9 yards per game.
The play of the offensive line allowed the Falcons to accomplish two things:
1. Atlanta established a personality as a physical, run-first team.
2. Ridder, who became the starter in the final third of the season didn’t feel as if he had to be the savior.
The Falcons have finished 7-10 the first two seasons under Smith as Atlanta has improved its talent and speed. Tight end Kyle Pitts and WR Drake London provide weapons and the Falcons have found their starting center, Drew Dalman, and tackle, Jalen Mayfield, in the last two drafts.
With the sad state of the NFC South – Tampa Bay won the division with an 8-9 record – the Falcons might not be that far away. Signing an elite player such as Lindstrom signals this team is building smartly for the future.