The Atlanta Falcons will have a decision to make with reigning NFL MVP Matt Ryan in the not-so-distant future. Ryan signed a five-year, $103.8 million deal with Atlanta back in 2013 and has two years remaining on his deal.
It has been expected for some time that the Falcons would engage in contract extension talks with Ryan once their season wraps up Sunday night against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI.
It’s now being reported that the Falcons and owner Arthur Blank are willing to do whatever it takes to keep Ryan over the long term. Yes, that includes making him the highest-paid quarterback in the NFL.
#Falcons owner Arthur Blank knows the QB market. He's willing to do what it takes to re-up Matt Ryan, including make him the highest-paid QB
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 5, 2017
In terms of average salary, Ryan is currently just outside of the top-10 highest-paid quarterbacks in the NFL. If the Falcons were to take that next step and offer him a deal that’s better than any other signal caller in the league, it would have to come in at north of $25 million per season.
At 31 years old and coming off the best performance of his career, Ryan surely has another long-term contract in him. It just remains to be seen whether he will want to sign that deal this offseason or wait to see how the market itself plays out following the 2017 campaign.
Ryan is coming off a 2016 regular season that saw him throw for nearly 5,000 total yards with 38 touchdowns and just seven interceptions en route to leading the league’s top-scoring offense.