In trading Matt Ryan, Falcons give QB gift as frightful future awaits franchise | Opinion

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Congratulations, Matt Ryan.

It might not be good for the ego to get dumped by the team that you gave up those prime years for, but Lord knows that landing in a better place is a cause to jump for joy.

The Atlanta Falcons did Ryan a huge favor in dealing him to the Indianapolis Colts on Monday, days after their failed bid to land Deshaun Watson blew up as an embarrassment.

Never mind that the Falcons provided Ryan with an everybody-is-expendable NFL reality check as they pursued Watson.

He joins a team built for a playoff run and can hand the football off repeatedly to reigning NFL rushing champ Jonathan Taylor. Conceivably, he can stay upright a lot more than he has the past few years in Atlanta, now working behind a solid offensive line anchored by standouts Quenton Nelson and Ryan Kelly. And there’s balance in the DNA of the team that Colts GM Chris Ballard and coach Frank Reich have built, complete with playmakers on defense, including DeForest Buckner and Darius Leonard.

Ryan can be the missing link for the Colts that Carson Wentz wasn’t. It’s a stretch to envision Ryan will duplicate what a couple other veteran quarterbacks did the past two seasons, when Tom Brady and Matthew Stafford switched locations and led their new teams to Super Bowl triumphs – especially when considering Ryan might be the eighth-best quarterback in the galaxy of star quarterbacks in the AFC.

But at least the Colts have a fighting chance.

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Had Ryan, who turns 37 in May, stayed in Atlanta, the chances were better that he would have absorbed the type of brutal beatings that send quarterbacks limping into retirement. In each of the past four seasons, Ryan was sacked at least 40 times behind a woeful offensive line that is just one of the areas in need of an overhaul during this undeniable rebuilding phase.

Last season, it was hard to watch Ryan getting pummeled with regularity as the walls caved in around him. It’s a credit to Ryan that the Falcons won seven games in the first season with Arthur Smith as head coach and Terry Fontenot as general manager. Even though Ryan had his lowest passer rating (90.4) since 2015, at least the Falcons had a quarterback – if they could protect him.

So, good for you, Matty Ice. You’ve been spared a certain type of pain and punishment that is now part of the reality Marcus Mariota can deal with during his fresh opportunity to be a starting quarterback again. Beyond the offensive line issues, the cupboard is rather bare with the Falcons in the wide receiver department (Russell Gage, gone as a free agent; Calvin Ridley, not coming back soon, if ever, with a gambling suspension layered on top of his mental health sabbatical). And that defense needs a lot of work. Throwing for 4,000 yards, or even 5,000, wasn’t going to cover for all of the ills and turn the team into a contender.

Maybe this can be chalked up as a gesture of appreciation. After all, Ryan, the most successful quarterback in Falcons history, provided stability and productivity over 14 seasons, plus a whole lot of credibility as the face of the franchise that was left reeling following the Michael Vick dogfighting fiasco.

In one sense, Ryan, drafted third overall in 2008, deserved this break of an exit door, which usually doesn’t happen in a league that uses, abuses, chews up and spits out commodities. Sure, he was a consummate pro who was paid well. Ryan earned over $300 million during his Falcons tenure.

Yet for all of that, the Falcons pretty much gave Ryan away, getting only a third-round pick and taking what is believed to be the largest “dead-money” salary cap hit ever, in excess of $40.5 million, in unloading him.

Good luck, Mariota. While the Falcons have an enormous talent in second-year tight end Kyle Pitts and utilityman Cordarrelle Patterson just re-upped for two years, the Falcons will be hard-pressed to quickly fill the holes. Factoring in the $15.5 million in dead money the team absorbed from last year’s trade of Julio Jones, Atlanta has over $60 million in dead money against the $208.2 million cap.

It’s an equation that underscores the projected lumps ahead with rebuilding. With the eighth pick in the draft, the Falcons are positioned to potentially select one of the top quarterbacks – Pitt’s Kenny Pickett or Liberty’s Malik Willis – but that option is fraught with risk.

For starters, this quarterback crop is thin at the top, which is why no one is talking about any of the incoming passers as a No. 1 overall choice or even a top-three pick. The quarterback options in next year’s draft, with the Falcons perhaps destined for a high pick, might be the ticket.

Besides, if the Falcons select a rookie quarterback with their top pick to groom behind Mariota (reunited with Smith, his former coordinator with the Tennessee Titans), they’d pass on some other talent that can help ASAP on a team that could surely use a pass rusher, offensive lineman, a receiver, and so on.

Fontenot and Smith must have a plan, even if it comes to fruition in the coming years after the salary cap hits. No, they couldn’t sell that in going all-in for Watson, who might have scratched the Falcons after seriously considering the supporting cast.

Going all-out on Ryan, though, is at least good for one quarterback – the one who’s leaving.

Follow Paste BN Sports' Jarrett Bell on Twitter @JarrettBell.