The numbers on the new Matt Ryan contract have made their way to PFT headquarters. And, well, wow.
The full breakdown appears below, followed by some analysis. All numbers come from a source with knowledge of the deal.
1. Signing bonus: $46.5 million.
2. 2018 salary: $6 million, fully guaranteed.
3. 2019 option bonus: $10 million, fully guaranteed.
4. 2019 salary: $11.5 million, fully guaranteed.
5. 2020 salary: $20.5 million, fully guaranteed.
6. 2021 salary: $23 million, $5.5 million of which is guaranteed for injury only at signing. The $5.5 million becomes fully guaranteed on the third day of the 2019 league year.
7. 2022 roster bonus: $7.5 million, due third day of 2022 league year.
8. 2022 salary: $16.25 million.
9. 2023 roster bonus: $7.5 million, due third day of 2023 league year.
10. 2023 salary: $20.5 million.
11. All guarantees have no offset language.
Here’s what it all means.
First, Ryan has a whopping $94.5 million fully guaranteed at signing. The remaining $5.5 million in guarantees for injury only at signing are, as a practical matter, fully guaranteed. Indeed, the only way to avoid the $5.5 million would be to cut Ryan after one year — and to owe him $94.5 million without the opportunity to offset any of the cash to be paid later.
Second, there is no fluff in the deal. No per-game roster bonuses, no workout bonuses, no incentives. It’s “all clean cash,” as the source explained it.
Third, if Ryan had opted to go year to year, he would have made $19.25 million this year, $25.98 million under the franchise tag in 2019, and $31.176 million in 2020. That’s a three-year haul of $76.406 million. Under the new contract, Ryan will make $94.5 million.
Fourth, in the non-guaranteed years, the Falcons will have to decide early whether to move on from Ryan, given the $7.5 million due on the third day of the 2022 and 2023 league years.
Fifth, the new-money value is $30 million per year, which is a record. The full value at signing — six years, $169.25 million — is $28.2 million. (That’s not quite as good as $28.3 million, but in one specific way it’s a lot better.)
So Ryan has set a new bar. And it won’t be easy for the Packers and Aaron Rodgers to overcome it. We’ll explain that in further detail in a separate post.
For now, the point is this: Ryan has gotten a record-setting deal, and he’ll likely be a Falcons for the next six years, and probably beyond.