As expected, 18-year NFL veteran quarterback Ben Roethlisberger announced his retirement following the 2021 season.
Big Ben’s departure leaves the door open for Falcons QB Matt Ryan to move into fifth all-time in passing yards. Roethlisberger’s career total of 64,085 yards is currently No. 5 in the NFL record books, but that’s well within reach for Atlanta’s former MVP.
As for Ryan, he reached 59,735 career passing yards in 2021, which was enough to surpass Eli Manning for eighth on the all-time list. If you’re doing the math, that puts Ryan just 4,351 yards from jumping into fifth place. On the way, Ryan would also be overtake Dan Marino and Philip Rivers.
However, this would also make Ryan the only quarterback in the top five without a Super Bowl win.
| Rank | Player | Yards |
| 1 | Tom Brady | 84,520 |
| 2 | Drew Brees | 80,358 |
| 3 | Peyton Manning | 71,940 |
| 4 | Brett Favre | 71,838 |
| 5 | Ben Roethlisberger | 64,085 |
| 6 | Phillip Rivers | 63,440 |
| 7 | Dan Marino | 61,361 |
| 8 | Matt Ryan | 59,735 |
Over the last 10 years, Ryan has hit the 4,351 hark on eight occasions. He failed to eclipse 4,000 yards in 2021 but the entire offense struggled in year one under Arthur Smith. It’s still reasonable to assume he will bounce back in 2022 with more experience in the offense and hopefully more weapons.
