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Thawed.
Matt Ryan is the greatest quarterback in Falcons history by most measures. Whether that’s by touchdowns, passing yards, wins — you name it, Ryan’s name is at the top of the list.
But as is the case with most players (let alone quarterbacks) in the NFL, “Matty Ice” reached his expiration date with the only franchise he ever knew, with the Falcons opting to move on from him prior to the start of the 2022 season.
A single year in Arthur Smith’s offense proved not enough to save Ryan’s future in Atlanta, with the team trading him (and his contract) away for a draft pick this offseason, and handing the keys to Marcus Mariota (and Desmond Ridder) to lead the way in 2022 and beyond.
MORE: Why did the Colts hire Jeff Saturday?
It didn’t take too long for the Colts to see what the Falcons saw coming with Ryan this year, opting to bench him earlier this season.
Why? It’s pretty simple.
What did the Falcons trade Matt Ryan?
During the 2022 offseason, Ryan was traded from the Falcons to the Colts, getting out from underneath the remaining two years of his five-year, $150 million contract in the process.
It was a pretty straightforward deal: The Colts traded a 2022 third-round pick (No. 82 overall) in exchange for Ryan. That was actually something of a low-priced deal considering what other QBs on the market were going for, both in trade and free agency.
Falcons coach Arthur Smith was pretty open that shedding Ryan’s deal was of great benefit for the franchise moving forward.
“It opens up a lot of [salary cap] space in ‘23 so we don’t have to keep playing this game of restructures and minimum deals,” Smith said. “Part of the compensation is what it opens up in the future for us.”
Why did the Colts bench Matt Ryan?
Ryan started the first seven games for the Colts in 2022, and didn’t exactly play up to the typical Matt Ryan standard: He threw nine touchdowns to nine interceptions and 2,011 yards across those games. He also fumbled the ball 11 times, which lead the league.
To that end, Ryan was worse than what his top-level numbers suggest. His 4.1 percent turnover worthy play percentage (per PFF) is the worst of his career by a fairly comfortable margin. At 6.3 yards in average depth of target, Ryan was throwing shorter and was less effective in general on pass attempts than he has the rest of his career.
All of that turned out to be the end for Ryan: The Colts benched him due to his performance (though a shoulder injury may have played into that, as well) following a Week 7 loss.
MORE: Why the Colts decided to go with Sam Ehlinger at QB over Matt Ryan
It wasn’t all on Ryan. The Colts’ offensive line is in total disarray, the running game was one of the worst in the league and the team is limited out wide.
Interestingly, the team fired head coach Frank Reich, who made the decision to bench Ryan in favor of Sam Ehlinger. With Jeff Saturday taking over, we’ll see if Ryan will once again fly high the remainder of the season — or if he’ll just be cooped up.