The Falcons and general manager Thomas Dimitroff have agreed to a long-term extension, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The team has since confirmed the deal via press release. The new deal will lock the executive down from 2017 through 2019.
This summer, Dimitroff said that he didn’t expect to last much longer in Atlanta if the team didn’t turn around its on-field performance.
“Of course I’m on the hot seat. Every year I’m on the hot seat. I believe that 100 percent,” he said in June.“I believe anyone who doesn’t think they are maybe just won a Super Bowl. But I think most of us know that it’s a very urgent league now.”
After going a wildly successful 56-24 with four playoff berths and at least nine wins in each of Dimitroff’s first five years with the Falcons, the club combined for an 18-30 mark and no postseason appearances from 2013-2015. This season, however, the Falcons have turned things around by getting out to a 6-3 start. On Thursday night, they defended their spot atop the NFC South with a 43-28 drumming of the Buccaneers.