NFL: Falcons give Desmond Trufant a $69-million extension

The Atlanta Falcons have agreed to a $69-million, five-year contract extension with cornerback Desmond Trufant, locking up another key member for the team that won the NFC championship.

The deal was Atlanta’s top priority of the off-season and includes $42 million in guaranteed money.

General Manager Thomas Dimitroff says the 2013 first-round pick “has improved each year and we believe his best ball is still in front of him.”

Last season, Trufant played nine games before going on injured reserve with a pectoral injury, missing the team’s run to the Super Bowl, where they lost in overtime to the New England Patriots.

Trufant, a 2015 Pro Bowl selection, becomes the ninth player the Falcons have either re-signed or extended going back to last season, including cornerback Robert Alford and offensive tackle Ryan Schraeder.

Etc.

Derrick Jensen, a two-time Super Bowl winner as a player and longtime Seattle Seahawks scout, has died after a five-year battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. He was 60. The Seahawks announced that Jensen died Friday morning. He retired as a scout in 2012 as the illness began to take a toll on his ability to work. Jensen spent his entire playing career with the Raiders, winning Super Bowl titles after the 1980 and 1983 seasons. He was responsible for scouting Shaun Alexander coming out of Alabama, but also found unknown gems like Ricardo Lockette, Jordan Babineaux and J.R. Sweezy.