Matt Ryan is on his way to the NFL’s new home, and the Indianapolis Colts are ready to roll out the red carpet for his arrival. The Atlanta Falcons threw the entire city into their field to acquire former Houston Texans quarterback Deshawn Watson before seeing their efforts flop spectacularly after the former professional bowler returned and accepted a historic deal with the Cleveland Browns, but questions remain. what will happen to the broken relationship between the Falcons and Ryan.
Those questions have now been answered by the Falcons, who have struck a deal with the Colts to send the four-time Pro Bowl quarterback to the Indy as a replacement for Carson Wentz in 2022 in exchange for a 2022 third-round pick, CBS Sports NFL insider. Jason La Canfora confirmed.
Both sides were reported to have been in talks with the Colts since they heard the news of Watson’s decision, if not a little earlier, but there was a lot to talk about in the talks. After canceling Ryan’s $7.5 million guaranteed lineup bonus, which was three days ago but pushed back to Monday as the Falcons waited for Watson’s decision to allow a possible Ryan trade, they had until 4:00 pm ET to either send Ryan out of Atlanta. or pay him what he owes.
Please check the box to confirm that you would like to subscribe.
Thank you for registering!
Keep track of your mailbox.
I’m sorry!
An error occurred while processing your subscription.
Also, by and large, Ryan is owed a total of $23.75 million in cash next season, and if the contract stays the same, the Falcons will be forced to eat a whopping $40.5 million in dead money if that deal will be done. without changing the current deal. It remains to be seen if the Colts have agreed to take any of these hits, but more details on the specifics of the deal will shed light on this.
Ryan leaves the Falcons after 14 seasons with the team, joining them as the league’s third overall pick in 2008 with 59,735 passing yards and 367 touchdowns with 170 interceptions. He eventually led the team to the Super Bowl, but the infamous 28-3 crash suffered by Tom Brady and the New England Patriots remains the biggest blot on his solid QB resume.
Complicating things a little on this deal was the fact that the Colts weren’t Ryan’s only suitors, with La Canfora also noting that the Seattle Seahawks were working to win the race for the former NFL MVP. The Seahawks are in the midst of their own NFL blockbuster trade of Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos for a package that included quarterback Drew Lock, and it would be interesting to see if Locke gets sent to the Falcons, which was originally public. listed as QB1 for next season, but in reality he becomes another potential asset to include in a subsequent deal.
There’s another problem with all of this, and that’s Baker Mayfield.
Mayfield, who released a not-so-veiled farewell letter before the trade for Watson, initially demanded the trade when Watson told the Browns they weren’t in the lotteries, but Cleveland handed him a firm “no” before later dropping Watson off and telling Mayfield he was free to find a trading partner. Rumor has it that Mayfield saw the Colts as the best landing spot, but by landing Ryan, will he now push Mayfield towards Atlanta… or Seattle… and if it’s the latter, will Lock find his way to the former? ??
But wait, that’s not all.
The Falcons are also reportedly interested in pursuing former second overall pick Marcus Mariota. NFL network, which could reunite free agent QB with head coach Arthur Smith, who spent time with the Tennessee Titans. Such a move would allow Smith to at least keep the Falcons competitive in real time while keeping an eye on finding Ryan’s true successor, while the Colts could soon consider a free agent move that could reunite Ryan with his former attacking compatriot. and fellow Atlanta legend Julio Jones, who was released by the Titans this offseason; that everything becomes an NFL lesson in six degrees of separation.
In what was a whirlwind in the first few days of NFL free agency of 2022, the last domino to fall – that is, Ryan – is now set to push the rest as well.