After 14 years and becoming the best quarterback in the team’s history, Matt Ryan and theAtlanta Falcons have parted ways.
On Monday, Atlanta traded Ryan to the Indianapolis Colts for a 2022 third-round draft pick, according to multiple sources.
The Colts were in need of a quarterback once they traded Carson Wentz to the Washington Commanders for third round picks in 2022 and 2023. Ryan will be the Colts seventh Week 1 starter in as many years and the fifth different starting quarterback in coach Frank Reich’s tenure.
Indianapolis has been looking for a stabilizing force under center since Andrew Luck retired in August 2019. Ryan will be the second quarterback in the past three seasons, at the tail end of his career, the Colts have picked up in a trade. Veteran Philip Rivers retired at the end of the 2020 campaign, after just one season with the franchise.
The Colts Super Bowl odds improved slightly with this deal, from 30-1 to 25-1, according to Caesars Sportsbook.
The two sides have reportedly been in talks with the Colts since the new league year began and only intensified when hearing the news of Deshaun Watson’s decision to go to the Cleveland Browns. The Falcons were part of a group of teams that were vying for Watson’s services.
After delaying Ryan’s guaranteed roster bonus of $7.5 million, which was due Friday, but postponed to Monday, as the Falcons wanted to hear Watson’s decision, they had a choice to make. They had until 4 p.m. ET to either ship Ryan out of Atlanta or pay him what was owed.
In addition, Ryan is scheduled to make a total of $23.75 million in cash next season. If the contract remains the same, the Falcons will eat the sum of $40.5 million in dead money if the trade is made with no change. The specifics of the trade, as far as money is concerned, are not yet known.
Ryan, who will be 37 in May, was a cornerstone for the Falcons organization since being drafted No. 3 overall in 2008. They hoped he would be the next franchise quarterback following Michael Vick, whom the team moved on from, following the 2007 season, because of a scandal that sent him to prison. Ryan exceeded those expectations.
Ryan was the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2008. In 14 years with Atlanta, he was an iron man, only missing three games. He threw for at least 4,000 yards from 2011 to 2020. He threw for 3,968 yards last season. Ryan has had at least 20 touchdown passes every year since his rookie season, when he had sixteen. Ryan made the Pro Bowl four times.
2016 was his most outstanding season, when he completed 69.9% of his passes for a career-high 4,944 yards and 38 touchdowns with seven interceptions. He was named the NFL’s MVP that season and led Atlanta to Super Bowl LI against the New England Patriots. It seemed like they had the game under control, with a 28-3 lead going into halftime, but lost 34-28 in overtime.
Ryan made the playoffs in 2017, but the Falcons have not sniffed the playoffs since.
Like many of his contemporaries, such as Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Matthew Stafford and Russell Wilson, Ryan will finish his career somewhere other than where it started.
