Arthur Blank on Matt Ryan’s new $150 million contract

Signing and option bonus will reveal future salary-cap flexibility
Falcons owner Arthur Blank dances on stage with his players after beating the Packers 44-21 in the NFL football NFC Championship game earning a trip to the Super Bowl.     Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com

Credit: HANDOUT

Credit: HANDOUT

Falcons owner Arthur Blank dances on stage with his players after beating the Packers 44-21 in the NFL football NFC Championship game earning a trip to the Super Bowl. Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com

Falcons owner Arthur Blank wanted to take care of Matt Ryan, but didn’t want to be in a position where the team was not able to keep players in the future.

Ryan and the Falcons agreed to a five-year, $150 million contract extension Thursday. A total of $100 million of the deal is guaranteed.

“Matt has earned this extension, and I fully recognize the value of having a franchise quarterback in this league,” Blank said. “Since we drafted him in 2008, he’s been everything we hoped he would be.”

The quarterback market shifted upward over the offseason with other deals around the league. The Falcons ended up with market-value deal for Ryan. Blank didn’t seem to mind.

“He is an elite quarterback, leader and teammate who exemplifies our core values and represents our franchise on and off the field in a way that makes me very proud,” Blank said.

One the signing and perhaps option bonuses are disclose the salary-cap flexibility for the future would be revealed.

The defense is full of young stars such as defensive end Vic Beasley, defensive tackle Grady Jarrett, safety Keanu Neal, linebackers Deion Jones and De’Vondre Campbell. Beasley, who recently had his fifth-year option picked up, and Jarrett are next in line for contract extensions.

Left tackle Jake Matthews also is coming up for an extension.

“Once (Kirk) Cousins got done, I always thought you were going to have to hit $100 million in guarantees and you were going to have to hit $30 (million) per year,’ said Joel Corry, a NFL business analyst for CBS Sports and former agent. “Make him the first $30 million-per-year guy. Tom Condon had the first $20 million-per-year guy with Drew Brees in 2012, so he probably wanted to see the first $30 million-per-year guy.”

There was no home-town discount in this deal.

“I always suspected that Matt Ryan was going to defer to Tom Condon and not do what Tom Brady does and force Don Yee to take below market deals,” Corry said. “You don’t give a discount.”

The Falcons currently have $1,314,282 million under the salary cap, according to NFLPA documents. They pick up $3.5 million from Levine Toilolo's post-June 1 cut. The amount of Ryan's signing or option bonus may lower his cap number and create more salary-cap space.