The Falcons and Colts appear to be closing in on a deal that will send Matt Ryan to Indianapolis, according to multiple reports, which could end Ryan’s 14-year Atlanta career and leave the team looking for a new franchise quarterback.
The Colts have been rumored to be Ryan’s touchdown spot for several weeks now, even before Atlanta’s doomed attempt to trade Deshawn Watson, and they remain the most logical touchdown spot as an AFC playoff-level team still doesn’t have a quarterback. We don’t have any word on what the compensation might be or when it might be done, but it looks like both sides are close.
Scoopage: The Colts are currently trying to negotiate a trade with Atlanta for quarterback Matt Ryan. @nflofox. Not finished yet, but trying to improve
— Jay Glazer (@JayGlazer) March 21, 2022
Pat McAfee, a longtime Colts player who apparently still has close ties to the organization, says the deal is almost done. He also says that it can only be for the third round.
The Colts are hoping Ryan will stop his quarterback carousel for a while, driving through Phillip Rivers (who was still pretty good) and Carson Wentz (who melted at the end of the year). He’ll get into a team that doesn’t look like the AFC elite on paper, but could take a step forward with a quality offseason and a consistent player like Ryan at the helm of the offense. Ryan isn’t at his peak, but he’s still a damn good quarterback and the Colts are in the right position in their team building cycle to bring him on.
In the meantime, the Falcons are hoping to get Ryan as much compensation as possible for the draft to speed up their return to relevance. The whole off-season plan seemed to be to move Ryan one more year – they had a restructuring of his deal ready to make room in the cap – but now they’ll need to find a few quarterbacks to get through this year. this year. Whether they will be able to pick a player capable of taking the reins for a long time in 2022, or whether they will have to wait for what is considered a stronger class of quarterbacks in 2023 remains to be seen, but suffice it to say that this team looks to have seen. how not one, but two plans for this position went down the drain this year.
After all, if this trade goes through, they will walk away from the quarterback they picked with the third overall pick back in 2008, and he has been the team’s starter ever since. Clearly, Ryan is at the top of the team’s leaderboard in every significant passing category, and the Falcons will have no shortage of career highlights as they say goodbye to him. I don’t think many people with the franchise, Ryan himself, thought this was how it would end.
After the Falcons were involved in the Watson trade, first as a claimed “trucker” and then as a finalist, they must have known that they would either transfer Ryan if successful, or possibly transfer him if unsuccessful. It’s hard to push a player who spent so many years with you, at least partially, and then go back. This is the position the Falcons found themselves in after Watson drafted the Clevelands, and now a team that seemed to be slow to rebuild will be looking for a new franchise quarterback. Let’s see if this deal goes through today.
The original story is below.
The Atlanta Falcons dug themselves a hole in their latest fiasco. The team was successfully brought in by Deshawn Watson to receive additional cash from the Cleveland Browns. For other Watson teams, like the Panthers and Saints, the search for a quarterback continues. For the Falcons, who left Cleveland in time to return to the Watson race because they didn’t know what to do with Ryan, are reportedly still not sure what they can do with Ryan.
There appear to be two options: (1) trade Ryan before his $7.5 million option guarantees Monday at 4:00 pm or (2) keep Ryan in 2022 and possibly pay him more money. Watson’s disaster seems to have cost the Falcons dearly even without Watson landing. Jan Rapoport had the last one.
That #Falcons Sources say that in the past few days, trading calls have been centered around QB Matt Ryan. Today is the deadline for a decision, as Ryan will receive a $7.5 million bonus from ATL if he is in the 4:00 pm lineup. It will either be an exchange or a return to ATL, possibly with a sweetener.
— Jan Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 21, 2022
This is a big change from earlier this month when the Falcons seemed disinterest in trading Ryan. Since then, desperate teams have found quarterbacks. Now, whatever teams stay in Ryan know that Atlanta is in a bad spot. She burned her relationship with Ryan and can’t compete this year. Its value has dropped like a stone.
If the Falcons keep Ryan, that “sweetener” will be worth millions of dollars. Atlanta’s problem is, without Ryan, there’s no back-up plan. Your decent backup/starting quarterbacks are signed. There are few quarterbacks in the draft that are expected to start in the first year. Starting a rookie on offense with no blockers or passing catchers is a great way to ruin that rookie’s career.
The whole situation is confused. Atlanta doesn’t have good options. He may leave Ryan, but he may have to settle for a big financial apology. If he doesn’t keep Ryan, he won’t have good options to replace him, essentially going into a multi-year rebuild.
Ryan’s future will be known by 4 p.m. Monday.