Falcons owner Arthur Blank fielded questions for the first time since the organization traded franchise quarterback Matt Ryan to the Colts earlier this week.
Speaking to reporters at the NFL owners meeting Tuesday, Blank expressed sadness at dealing the 36-year-old Ryan after 14 accomplished seasons in Atlanta.
“From a personal standpoint, it was sad,” Blank said, per D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “It was a very difficult thing. I’ve known Matt, it seems like since he was a child. I remember having dinner with him and half a dozen of our coaches and evaluators in Boston. … He’s represented our franchise as well as you could possibly hope for both on the field and off the field for 14 years.”
Despite his personal feelings on the matter, Blank recognized the need to build for the future. As it pertains to a quarterback, Blank explained that he didn’t want the team to make a transition to the next franchise player at the position after it was too late. Instead, he wanted to look ahead and try to prepare the organization for the next decade.
“We have to get ready for the next 14–15 years,” Blank said, per Ledbetter. “And that’s what our fans really should expect us to do. It shouldn’t be a fire drill when we have that transition to make. So, we’re trying to prepare for that as best we can.”
In the immediate, the Falcons won’t be able to do much. Atlanta will carry $62 million in dead cap space into the 2022 season, $40.5 million of which came as a result of trading Ryan. However, once the Falcons get through next year, they should be well-positioned to be aggressive in free agency starting next summer.
“Next year we should be in a position where there’ll be the biggest cap space that we’ve had since I’ve owned the team over 21 years,” Blank said, via Ledbetter. “It’ll be something north of $100 million to $110 million. So, we’ll have an opportunity to extend our own players and be more active in free agency than we were this year.”
In the meantime, the Falcons appear set to turn the starting quarterback job over to Marcus Mariota, who signed a two-year deal with the team shortly after the Ryan trade. The 2015 No. 2 pick spent the last two seasons with the Raiders, as a backup to Derek Carr.
Atlanta is fresh off of a rocky 2021 season that saw the NFC South club finish 7–10 in Arthur Smith’s first year as coach. The Falcons have experienced quite a bit of roster turnover so far this spring and will look to officially enter a new era when they take the field in 2022.
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