Matt Ryan wisely has no plans to retire

Posted by Mike Florio on January 9, 2023, 8:08 PM EST
Houston Texans v Indianapolis Colts
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It’s entirely possible that Colts quarterback Matt Ryan will never play again in the NFL. But he’s not retiring.

Wisely.

Via Zak Keefer of TheAthletic.com, Ryan told reporters on Monday that he has no immediate plans to call it a career.

“Listen, I’m under contract, and until that changes, you kind of go to work,” Ryan said.

Ryan has $12 million in fully-guaranteed salary for 2023. If he retires, he doesn’t get it. If he’s cut, he does.

And he’ll be cut. Before March 17, well before there’s any work to go to. That day, another $17.2 million in full guarantees vest.

So Ryan will do nothing. He’ll wait to be released. And then he’ll decide what to do next. Including making $12 million in 2023 to not play.

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51 responses to “Matt Ryan wisely has no plans to retire”

  10. Another bonehead move signing Matt Ryan by Ballard,Irsay and the keystone colts. The only reason they were ever any good at one point is because they had Bill Polian as GM. Other than that they are a complete joke.

  12. Right on. He will wisely gather more money without play. I figured he had enough money and would choose legacy

  13. Love it…stick it to the colts. Luckiest franchise in NFL history. Sucked perfect enough to draft Manning and then Luck… but did not believe in drafting Offensive linemen. Manning was lucky enough to get 1 Super bowl. They absolutely killed Lucks career.

  14. A classic example of why owners should reject large guarantees. But they were stupid enough to agree to it, so now they have to pay the piper (Ryan).

  15. NFL owners have more money than they know what to do with. If the Colts were dumb enough to sign Matt Ryan in the first place, they deserve to have Ryan steal as much money as he can. Ryan’s been washed up for 4 years. Don’t blame Ryan. He didn’t put a gun to anyone’s head.

  16. Colts kept trying to plug a vet QB in and get a magic result a la Denver. Manning was an all-time great though and so was the Broncos defense in 2015. Pretty goofy plan by the Colts GM in retrospect.

  18. Ryan is a class act. He was warrior in all those Saints-Falcons battles. He may be washed up, or he may be a victim of the chaos in Indy. Glad he gets a nice severance, and I hope he has one more good year in him

  19. I love how everyone’s about Matt Ryan getting paid for lousy play as of late l, but have an issue with Lamar Jackson getting paid. Both have done absolutely nothing except win an MVP. Oh yeah, Matt Ryan chocked in a super bowl so that’s the difference.

  21. Teams who are desperate for quarterbacks sign bad long term deals for short term glory…

  24. All Matt Ryan needs to do is hang in there and not make a big mistake and he’s won.

    He never screws up in that situation. Oh wait.

  25. The problem with the Colts was not Matt Ryan. He’s still better than half of the starting QBs out there. One guy cannot change a team.

  26. Matt Ryan is the greatest Falcon ever. Yes, Julio Jones and Deion Sanders were better players, but Ryan led the most respectable period for the franchise over 14 seasons (ATL was top 12 in the NFL in total wins during that stretch). He threw a TD on his very first pass, literally missed only 3 games, won an MVP, personified generosity and class, and actually played a very good Super Bowl before foolishly failing to audible out of some horrible playcalling by Kyle Shanahan in the 4th quarter. Has Ryan been an all-time great? No. A hall of famer? We’ll see. But he more than anyone was responsible for bringing some measure of relevance and respectability to a perpetually snakebite franchise in a Top 10 market.

  29. I support Ryan of course in making a good(obvious) business decision.

    But a football fan I cant say that I like seeing teams waste their money on guys who arent even playing.

  30. I think it was a really jerky move that they didn’t play Matt Ryan in the final week of what could be his career. He’s a good dude and teammate and likely Hall of Famer. You don’t make him ride the pine in his last possible game. If anything, you show other veterans around the league that you respect them, helping you to get free agents.

  31. Funny that people think the owners are the villains. Nobody says anything when they pay huge contracts to under-performers (Russel Wilson, Dak Prescott etc) who never reach potential. Oh the players put their bodies on the lines everyday. Yep, and that’s what they signed up for. No different than the guy who later today will be sitting on a piece of wood or metal attached to ropes, dangling from a high rise cleaning windows.

  33. He is well beyond his expiration date, as this season proved. But as long as GMs are dumb/desperate enough to give him money, why not?

  34. Atlanta needs to send the Colts a gift basket. The Colts take every team’s problem QB (generally over the hill but teams refuse to let them go) and allow teams to start their rebuild where they just would’ve wasted another year or two refusing to believe their QB is washed up.

  35. Ryan is no longer starter material. He has most his mobility and just is not the same player. But I do think he is still a serviceable backup. He can take his 12 Mil and probably also take a backup job for veteran minimum of he so chooses.

  36. A contract is exactly that. He’s fulfilling his side of the bargain. There are only a few comments right now with this story, and I’m surprised how much pro player it is. Usually in these situations, the fans go all out for team management and how the player should take the bullet for the team. “You stink!!!!!!! Do the right thing.”. Maybe so, but the contract is only thing that counts.

  38. A sad ending to his career really. He was never the same after 28-3 he was elite for a short time MVP is pretty damn good.

  40. Joe Flacco still going strong tho polishing his Super Bowl ring on the sidelines.

  42. This is why I hate professional sports. So many people struggling and this guy making insane money to do nothing…it’s sickening.

  44. He’ll be a big help to a young QB if he desires to help. He can make a lot of $$$$ holding a clip board and maybe playing 2-3 games a year will keep his old carcass in good condition.

  45. When they contracts aren’t fully guaranteed, nobody should blame the players for getting every cent that they are owed.

  48. I’m old enough to remember when Ballard was considered a genius and the best GM that ever lived.. He must be living off that rep because there’s no other explanation for how he still has his job. Not even a good QB will save this team from sinking further.

  49. MD says:
    January 10, 2023 at 9:21 am
    This is why I hate professional sports. So many people struggling and this guy making insane money to do nothing…it’s sickening.

    _________________________________________________________________________________________

    I looked up career stats on Matt Ryan. As it turn out, unsurprisingly he did in fact DO something. Over his career he also separated his right shoulder, sprained his left shoulder, sprained his ankle and pulled his groin. Are athletes overpaid? Of course. But let’s not say they don’t do anything. It’s wildly inaccurate. I’ll take my job any day of the week over getting chased every Sunday by 300 lb really intense men that want to drill me into the ground.

  50. He’s completely washed, but I still like him as a person. Good on him for fleecing Irsay

  51. Ryan was promised a real line (nothing like he had in Atlanta for years) and even Indianapolis said they didn’t hold their end up. People like to say he “losty” the two biggest comebacks in history…Ryan lines up on the offensive side, go talk to the defensive coordinator and players. In Atlanta, Ryan handed the defense a twenty five point lead in the fourth quarter, but Shanahan was asleep at the wheel, probably celebrating his new job in Oregon…another reason you make a coach work out his contract before taking another in the middle of the Super Bowl. You just can’t put up 33 points in a game and be blamed for the defense allowing more. No, Ryan isn’t the problem on the field, Ryan’s problem is believing what front office and coaches promise they can do.

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