Of the many notable moves the Atlanta Falcons have made this ofseason, hiring OL coach Bill Callahan was quietly one of the best. Dwayne Ledford was good at his job, but Kevin Stefanski managed to replace him with a legendary offensive line coach. That sort of upgrade is a no-brainer.
The Falcons need someone like Callahan to oversee their unit up front as they look to get more physical in the trenches. But more importantly, Atlanta's OL is riddled with question marks. Kaleb McGary retired, Jawaan Taylor and Ryan Neuzil are short-term fixes, and Jake Matthews is aging.
The only player on the Falcons' starting offensive line whose job is totally safe is All-Pro right guard Chris Lindstrom, but left guard, Matthew Bergeron is a touchy one. He's set to be a free agent next offseason, and with him vying for a new extension, Callahan is the perfect coach to work with him in a contract year.
Bill Callahan is about to help Matthew Bergeron get paid next offseason
The 26-year-old was pretty bummed out about Ledford's departure, but as far as his future goes, it could turn out to be a blessing in disguise. It's about time the Dirty Birds transition from their zone running scheme to a zone scheme that has more power elements involved, which benefits Bergeron.
At 6-foot-5 and 315 pounds, he is one massive human and size-wise is a perfect fit for the vision Callahan is looking to adopt up front. In the two games 2023 second-round pick missed last year, the guard play dropped off, so he has a lot on the line this season--especially as seventh-round rookie Ethan Onianwa pushes for his job.
According to Pro Football Focus, Bergeron's 70.8 PFF grade ranked 22nd out of 81 qualified guards, while his 71.8 run blocking grade ranked 18th. While those numbers are solid, perhaps the biggest display of his impact on this Falcons' offensive line is the fact he allowed just one sack in 912 offensive snaps.
The Canadian sensation is good, not great right now, but Callahan can help him take that next step and get paid. He's far more important to this offense than we realize, but here's the issue. Spotrac projects his market value at four years and $78.6 million ($19.7M AAV), and that's a lot of money for a team that's already paying Lindstrom top-of-market money to invest in another guard.
Right now, the Dirty Birds are set to have $141.1 million in cap space next offseason, so if they want to retain the Syracuse product they can easily do so. But they also have to get long-term extensions done with Bijan Robinson, Drake London, and Kyle Pitts, all of whom take precedent over Bergeron.
One thing's for sure: Bergeron is about to get paid. The only question that has yet to be answered is if that payday will come from the Falcons or someone else, and Callahan's impact will certainly help answer that burning question.
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