The Indianapolis Colts are reportedly planning to release Matt Ryan after a year NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. The move comes after being benched for Sam Ehlinger and later Nick Foles during the season.
He leaves the team with a 4-12 record in his starts. He recorded 14 touchdowns, 13 interceptions and a career-high 15 fumbles with a 67% pass success rate. Ryan will still get $12 million from the Colts, a guarantee not included in his previous contract.
Now the 37-year-old has the option to explore the free hand or not. “I’ll have to see how it pans out but I still love to play and honestly I still feel like there’s a lot of good football in my body,” Ryan told the Indianapolis Star in January when posting asked about his future.
When Ryan was benched for Sam Ehlinger in Week 8, he was honest with reporters who asked about his feelings, adding that he would “accept and accept” his backup role.
“I was disappointed individually and personally,” Ryan said. “As a player, as a competitor, you want to be out there. You want to go. It’s part of the deal in this league. You have to produce and you have to go out and play. Frustrated that we couldn’t do that in the first seven games. But man coming forward. Life in this league is week to week and the production has to be there. Disappointed personally of course but here for the team.”
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He was drafted in 2008 and spent the next 14 seasons with the Atlanta Falcons, where he missed all but two seasons without a start. The Falcons then traded the longtime franchise cornerstone to the Colts for a 2022 third-round draft pick before signing Marcus Mariota from the Las Vegas Raiders.
Moving Ryan left the Colts with an $18 million dead-money fee and $17 million in savings in salary caps. According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Colts also reportedly agreed on Tuesday to trade Pro Bowl cornerback Stephon Gilmore to the Dallas Cowboys for a fifth-round equalizer pick for the 2023 NFL draft.
Both moves together saved the Colts $27.1 million from the 2023 salary cap. The team owns the No. 4 overall pick in next month’s NFL draft.