Atlanta Falcons Make Big Contract Decision on Matt Ryan Ahead of Free Agency

The Atlanta Falcons are making some changes to the contract of quarterback Matt Ryan. According to Roster Management System, via ESPN, the Falcons are restructuring Ryan's contract, lowering the $48,662,500 cap hit he was going to be at for the 2022 season. Ryan's cap hit will now be set at $36,662,500 after the team converted $7.5 million of his base salary and a $7.5 million roster bonus that was initially due next week into a signing bonus and spread it out over more years. Ryan's new base salary is $8.75 million.

For the Falcons to do this, they added three more voidable years from 2024 to 2026 totaling $9 million. This is the fourth consecutive year the Falcons have restructured Ryan's contract, and his deal runs through the 2023 season. He no longer has the highest cap hit for a single player going into the 2022 season. 

But there are Falcons fans who are ready to move on from Ryan and start over since the team hasn't reached the playoffs since the 2017 season. In 2021, Ryan completed 67% of his passes for 3,968 yards, 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. It was the first time since the 2010 season Ryan threw for under 4,000 yards and just the third time in his career he threw fewer than 21 touchdown passes. 

"Let's make this clear. At some point, we do need to understand that Father Time does get us all and at some point we have to make a clear succession plan for the next quarterback," Falcons owner Arthur Blank said in February. "Teams in the league that have done that successfully really are in a good position. "The ones that haven't are the ones that struggle for a number of years as they flip in and out of quarterbacks that are not really the ultimate answer."

Ryan is the best quarterback in Falcons history. He was named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2008, Offensive Player of the Year and MVP in 2016 and has been selected to the Pro Bowl four times. In his career, Ryan has thrown for 59,735 yards and 367 touchdowns. His passing yards rank eighth in NFL history while his passing touchdowns rank ninth.