The Atlanta Falcons made a hard push to acquire Deshaun Watson, but ultimately fell short. Now they’ll be preparing for a post Matt Ryan life for the first time in 14 years.
Atlanta has traded their franchise quarterback to the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for a 2022 third round pick. Ryan will now become the Colts 5th quarterback in as many seasons under head coach Frank Reich.
Earlier this offseason, the Colts traded incumbent starter Carson Wentz to the Washington Commanders for a pair of third round picks in 2022 & 2023. With the acquisition of Ryan, the Colts have essentially turned Carson Wentz into Matt Ryan + a third rounder in 2023.
Meanwhile, the trade will leave the Falcons holding the bag on a $40.525M dead money cap hit in 2022. The former 3rd overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft will be turning 37 in May but has indicated he has no plans on retiring anytime soon.
Ryan is a 4x Pro Bowler, who was named league MVP in 2016. He currently holds virtually every Falcons passing record, and has been a model of durability during his time in the league having missed only 3 games total throughout his career.
The Falcons finished 7-10 in 2021 and missed the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. The trade makes for an interesting situation at the NFL draft in a few weeks time as the Falcons are now without a starting quarterback.
It was widely presumed that Seattle could be in the market for a QB at 9th overall following their acquisition of Denver’s 1st rounder in the Russell Wilson trade. Now however, Atlanta picks one spot in front of the Seahawks and could either select their quarterback of the future outright at 8, or at the very least, cause other QB needy teams to consider trading up to get in front of them on draft day.
Meanwhile, Matt Ryan now joins a Colts team that finished 9-8 in 2021 and missed the playoffs on the final day of the season with a humiliating loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Many NFL insiders felt as though Indy was “a quarterback away” from competing for a division title in the AFC South. However, whether that QB is indeed Matt Ryan remains to be seen.
While the former Boston College signal caller still posted serviceable numbers last year, both his passing yards and passing TD numbers have dropped every season since 2018.
Both teams will now turn their attention to the NFL draft which kicks off in Las Vegas on Thursday April 28th.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner