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One of the names often thrown out when discussing possible 49ers quarterbacks can be taken off the table. NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero on Tuesday reported the Falcons have no intention of trading quarterback Matt Ryan or wide receiver Julio Jones.
“Matt Ryan is not going anywhere,” Pelissero said on NFL Network. “The Falcons have not had any trade conversations with any other team about Ryan, or their star wide receiver Julio Jones. And every expectation is both players are going to be on the roster in 2021.”
Ryan won the 2016 NFL MVP award while operating under 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan while he was the Falcons’ offensive coordinator. The connection was a logical one. Atlanta just hired Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith to be their head coach, and a new coach dealing the 35-year-old veteran for his own, younger, cheaper quarterback made sense. Given Shanahan’s history with Ryan and the 49ers’ looking around for upgrades under center, a reunion wasn’t far-fetched.
However, as Pelissero observed, Smith’s offense isn’t dramatically different from Shanahan’s. A veteran who won an MVP award in a similar system is a pretty good starting point at the roster’s most important position for a first-time head coach.
Even if the Falcons did want to trade Ryan, it wouldn’t have come cheap. According to Over the Cap, a pre-June 1 trade would cost Atlanta more than $44 million in dead money next season, $26.5 million in dead money the following year, and $8.6 in 2023.
A post-June 1 trade would’ve made it a little more palatable, but it still would’ve come with $17.9 million in dead money in 2021 and 2022, and an additional $8.6 million the following year.
It was always a long shot that Atlanta was going to move on from Ryan, and that San Francisco would see him as enough of an upgrade to part with draft picks for him. Now it sounds like those talks won’t happen, and we can cross Ryan off the short list of 49ers trade targets.