INDIANAPOLIS – Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff provided an update on Vic Beasley's future in Atlanta.
Dimitroff said at this point he is "confident" the team will exercise their fifth-year option on the pass-rusher.
The Falcons have until May 3 to exercise the option on Beasley's contract. Every player drafted in the first round automatically gets a fifth-year option added to their contract which allows teams to own the rights to that player for five years, instead of four, if they choose to do so.
Beasley led the NFL in sacks in 2015 with 15.5 in just his second year. Last season, Beasley was asked to play linebacker when the team was in their base package, instead of solely being featured at defensive end and finished the season recording five sacks.
Falcons coach Dan Quinn said Beasley will go back to solely playing defensive end, where they believe he is best suited to make an impact.
"For a stretch there, we felt the best thing for us to do would be play him in both roles – at [linebacker] and at the nickel defensive end," Quinn said. "We're just going to go back to what he does best. At the time, we needed to use him in that role, but we'll feature him as a defensive end all the time in 2018."
