Matt Ryan signs the dotted line

[coachx]

Just yesterday Buck and Kincaid were blasting Matt Ryan b/c they said Flacco was much farther along in contract talks then was Ryan and that shows Flacco is more serious about contributing immediatly b/c he wants to be at the first day of training camp. (They did not even mention that even if Flacco had already signed he could not practive b/c Deleware has not finished with their quarter or semester. Per NFL Rules a player can only practice once with their team before their school lets out for summer break.) This does not count the "involuntary mini camps" that are already over.

One day later and Matt Ryan signs a $48 mill deal.

Safe to say they need some better sources.

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/sports/fal...age_tab_newstab

[DJ_Money]

AJC estimated that number on the contracts signed by past #3 overall picks...

ESPN is reporting 6 years, $72 million

If true, Blank has lost his damn mind.

I'm glad years of local TV blackouts appear likely for this team, because they're a disgrace.

[hawkman]

It turns out that he got $72 million. That's good for him and I can't fault him for signing the contract. But once again it looks like Blank cares more about image or making a big splash than the actual game of football. Can we at least let the guy take a snap ON THE FIELD before we sign him to a big time contract? I just hope he does well out there because the pressure of this contract will crush him if he does not.

[Eddielives]

Could you elaborate on your statements? I'd like to know why you feel the way you do.

[bronnt]

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Just yesterday Buck and Kincaid were blasting Matt Ryan b/c they said Flacco was much farther along in contract talks then was Ryan and that shows Flacco is more serious about contributing immediatly b/c he wants to be at the first day of training camp. (They did not even mention that even if Flacco had already signed he could not practive b/c Deleware has not finished with their quarter or semester. Per NFL Rules a player can only practice once with their team before their school lets out for summer break.) This does not count the "involuntary mini camps" that are already over.

One day later and Matt Ryan signs a $48 mill deal.

Safe to say they need some better sources.

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/sports/fal...age_tab_newstab

Easy to get a guy on the field when you offer him the biggest contract in history.

[jhay610]

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ESPN is reporting 6 years, $72 million

And 30 million guaranteed. I think Blank just wanted to get his new guy locked up and on the field in hopes that everybody would forget Vick.

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"The circumstances are always different when it comes to a player, and in Matt's case the research that Thomas did and Coach Smith did, they were extremely comfortable in Matt and what Matt stood for and what he's going to be for the long term," said team president Rich McKay, the Falcons' lead negotiator.

"

I don't think there was any hesitancy because of the experience we just had.

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Sounds like they are paying him based on his character. I think Joey Harrington was a good character guy. He better be producing on the field for that dough.

[KB21]

He is getting more than the #1 pick got.

I'm glad the owners have opted out of this CBA, because something has to be done about this rookie pay scale. It is absolutely ridiculous for Matt Ryan to get $72 million over 6 years and for Jake Long to be the highest paid offensive linemen in the league.

[AHF]

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It is absolutely ridiculous for Matt Ryan to get $72 million over 6 years and for Jake Long to be the highest paid offensive linemen in the league.

I totally agree. It is insane to invest that heavily in a guy who (per the numbers over the years) is roughly a 50/50 chance to be an impact player.

The irony is that while Blank is obviously desparate to "move on" from Michael Vick, the Falcons are already repeating the same mistake. They are paying well over market price for their QB and investing in him as if he is already a superstar when he hasn't proven it on the field.

This is not responsible management and the Falcons had better pray that Ryan doesn't turn out to be even an average QB.

[KB21]

The bad thing is, Atlanta doesn't have an offensive line to speak of. It is going to be very difficult for Matt Ryan to play from his feet as a rookie, and by the time they build that line, it may be too late for him.

Personally, I think Matt was drafted entirely too high anyway. He went third when he was probably the 20th best player in this draft. It's typical of this position though. Scouts and GM's tend to overrate quarterbacks, particularly when the crop is very weak. I didn't see much separation between Matt Ryan and Chad Henne to warrant Matt going so high and Chad going in the late 2nd round. You have to remember, Matt Ryan is a guy that threw 19 interceptions as a college senior, and that's not good no matter how anyone tries to rationalize it. Matt does a really poor job of reading and recognizing the underneath coverage.

I said it on draft day, and I still believe this. Atlanta would have been much better off by drafting Glenn Dorsey with the 3rd pick and building up that line, and then using their other picks to get offensive linemen instead of having to trade up to get Sam Baker. I'm not convinced that Sam Baker wouldn't have been on the board at #34, and even if Houston had taken him, you would have probably been able to get Duane Brown at #34. Worst case scenario is that you draft Chilo Rachal with that pick. Rachal went 5 picks later.

[jhay610]

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It is absolutely ridiculous for Matt Ryan to get $72 million over 6 years and for Jake Long to be the highest paid offensive linemen in the league.

I

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totally agree. It is insane to invest that heavily in a guy who (per the numbers over the years) is roughly a 50/50 chance to be an impact player.

Which is what we just did. We are paying this guy like he has already made a pro bowl. The rookie pay scale is an absurd system. Make them prove something on the field first.

[AHF]

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It is absolutely ridiculous for Matt Ryan to get $72 million over 6 years and for Jake Long to be the highest paid offensive linemen in the league.

I

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totally agree. It is insane to invest that heavily in a guy who (per the numbers over the years) is roughly a 50/50 chance to be an impact player.

Which is what we just did. We are paying this guy like he has already made a pro bowl. The rookie pay scale is an absurd system. Make them prove something on the field first.

I agree that the rookie pay scale is absurd generally but even within the context of the rookie payscale we significantly overpaid. It just makes no sense.

We just paid $72 million. Oakland paid $61 M over the same 6 year period for Russell at the #1 overall pick last season.

[KB21]

Not only that, but Miami gave the #1 pick Jake Long a 5 year contract worth $57.5 million with $30 million in guaranteed money.

[AHF]

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Not only that, but Miami gave the #1 pick Jake Long a 5 year contract worth $57.5 million with $30 million in guaranteed money.

Long isn't really a comparable, though. Skill position, offensive players and especially QBs routinely receive more - even when picked later.

For example, Reggie Bush at #2 got more than Mario Williams at #1. Vince Young at #3 got more than both of them. Matt Leinhard at #8 got nearly the same total $$ as the #1 pick, Mario Williams, and nearly $15 million more than the deal given to AJ Hawk, the #5 pick.

[TheTrueSiete]

It really doesn't matter... This was the most embarrassing headline I saw today, as a Falcons fan... How do you sign a kid, who hasn't proven himself in the NFL, and honestly didn't prove himself in the ACC, throwing 19 ints in a weak ACC, to a 72 million dollar deal... We still need Defense and O line... That money could have been spent WISELY at other positions of NEED! AAAAAHHHHHH!

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[hawkman]

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It is absolutely ridiculous for Matt Ryan to get $72 million over 6 years and for Jake Long to be the highest paid offensive linemen in the league.

I totally agree. It is insane to invest that heavily in a guy who (per the numbers over the years) is roughly a 50/50 chance to be an impact player.

The irony is that while Blank is obviously desparate to "move on" from Michael Vick, the Falcons are already repeating the same mistake. They are paying well over market price for their QB and investing in him as if he is already a superstar when he hasn't proven it on the field.

This is not responsible management and the Falcons had better pray that Ryan doesn't turn out to be even an average QB.

True. It's like they're stuck on the same loop and repeating the same mistakes over and over again. You can tell when the person making the decisions is NOT a "football" guy. Everything about Matt Ryan so far has been a PR campaign. We had obvious needs coming into this draft and I feel as if we didn't address them but instead chose to draft a guy purely as the "face" of the Falcons. What's strange is that AFTER we drafted him, no one on ESPN said one word about his actual skills, but instead talked about Blank being concerned with image and how Ryan fit what Blank was looking for. Where was Dimitroff in all of this? Isn't our GM the one that's making the draft choices? I like Arthur Blank for his passion and his desire to bring Atlanta a winning NFL franchise, but I'm not sure he's made the best decisions as of late. I hate to say it, but I wish Blank was more like Jerry Jones. He's still a meddler, but at least he seems to put the actual game of football before PR. Maybe it's because he knows that the best PR an NFL franchise can have is WINNING.

[TheTrueSiete]

If only we had landed Bill Parsells...

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[Eddielives]

It is crazy that he is getting paid that much. Hopefully the system will change soon. But come on people. It's equally crazy that some of you actually seem to be suggesting that Ryan was drafted not to play at all but to be a poster child or something. With the exception of one supposed expert leading up to the draft, everyone had Ryan in their top 5 list. Yes part of that was because of the weak qb's available. But the Falcons made a tough decision to get the best available guy for the qb position now instead of take a chance on the crop next year, which looks even worse. What are we supposed to do? Go with Harrington and Redman for 2 more years? Flacco, Henne and Brohm were widely believed to be big steps down from Ryan.

[mattlanta]

Holy [censored], that is a lot of money for a quarterback. You better live up to your contract, Matty Ice!

Honestly though, I think he should give us a few very solid games as a rookie, and I still have yet to truly know what he will be like when he gets older (obviously). He looks like he is doing great in the training camps though, so that's good.

Good luck, Matt Ryan.

And on a very random note, I think the barber who cuts my hair at this place is related to Matt Ryan. He looks like Matt Ryan but with darker hair, and on the mirror of his 'station' (I guess you can call it that?) there are two pics of athletes. One in a red football uniform (kinda looks like BC) and one in a baseball uniform (maybe Matt Ryan played baseball or something?) maybe it's just him playing baseball. But I swear... he might be Ryan's brother. lol.