The cash-strapped Atlanta Falcons had been working around Matt Ryan’s monster contract for years, but after Monday’s trade — which sent Ryan to the Colts for a 2022 third-round pick — the team can finally begin to plan for the future.
Unfortunately, trading Ryan will comes with a dead cap hit of $40.525 million, the largest in NFL history.
The #Falcons will carry a $40.525 million dead cap hit in 2022 for Matt Ryan. That's actually a savings of $9,093,382 … which they now will need to add a new starting QB.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 21, 2022
On the bright side, the Falcons will clear over $9 million in cap space for free agency as the team looks for a new starting quarterback.Per Over The Cap’s projections, the Falcons have $8,459,664 in cap space available after the Ryan trade.
It’s already being reported that Atlanta is eyeing free-agent QB Marcus Mariota, who worked with Falcons head coach Arthur Smith in Tennessee.
Whether or not the team adds Mariota, drafting a quarterback next month becomes a real possibility. Some of the possible options include Malik Jackson, Kenny Pickett and Desmond Ridder.
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