Matt Ryan is set to make NFL history next season based on the salary of his current contract. According to Field Yates of ESPN, the Atlanta Falcons quarterback is set to have a salary-cap number of $48,662,500, the largest cap hit for any player in league history. Ryan is in the fourth year of his five-year $150 million contract extension he signed in 2018.
As mentioned by CBS Sports, Ryan will have a cap number of just over $43 million in 2023. The Falcons could cut Ryan and save over $8 million in salary-cap space. However, if the Falcons wait until the end of the 2022 season to release him, the team would save $28 million in cap space.
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Ryan is coming off statistically one of his worst seasons. He threw for under 4,000 yards for the first time since 2010 and threw just 20 touchdowns, the lowest total since his rookie season in 2008 when he threw just 16 TD passes. In Ryan’s defense, he didn’t have a No. 1 wide receiver as Julio Jones was traded to the Tennessee Titans and Calvin Ridley stepped away from the team earlier in the year. Despite the low numbers, Ryan still kept the Falcons competitive before the team finished the season with a 7-10 record.
Ryan, 36, has been one of the top quarterbacks in the league since entering the NFL in 2008. He was named Offensive Rookie of the Year after leading the Falcons to the playoffs in his rookie season. In 2016, Ryan was named Offensive Player of the Year and NFL MVP after throwing for 4,924 yards, 38 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Ryan was also named to the All-Pro First Team that season and has been to the Pro Bowl four times in his career.
Back in October, Ryan spoke exclusively to PopCutlure.com about his chances of reaching the Pro Football Hall of Fame. “It’s not on my mind right now,” Ryan told PopCulture. “I think that I’ve always felt like if you’re worrying about those kinds of things or worrying about too far down the line, you’re not worrying about what’s important, and to me, I think I’ve always operated best when I keep my vision really tight and really small and focus on just what’s in front of my face this week, of trying to be the best player I can be this week to give ourselves a chance to win games and I always thought that if you do it that way, the other things fall into place, and you might have records or you might get accolades, those kind of things fall into place if you handle your business the way that you need to.”
