When it came right down to it, new General Manager Tom Dimitroff was not about to take agent Tom Condon's guff. Knowing his clients' history of holding out, Dimitroff hit Condon over the head with a bottle of vodka, threw him in Daren Stone's locker and hammered out a a huge six-year deal with a thoroughly intimidated Matt Ryan.
At $72 million and $34 million guaranteed, Ryan is more expensive than JaMarcus Russell, the buffet devouring late-to-camp first overall pick for the Oakland Raiders late-to-camp first overall pick who last year. While we've neatly avoided a long, messy holdout, the Falcons have basically given Matty Ice the keys to the franchise for the next several years and politely asked him not to crash it, spewing Jacksons and Benjamins all over the roadway.
If Ryan achieves success in his second round and sustains it over the life of this deal, he'll probably be well worth the money. I think it's a little unrealistic to expect him to step in and save this team right away, enormous briefcases filled with greenbacks aside. This does give Ryan a chance to step in and start getting his repetitions right away, giving him a huge leg up on the competition and likely spelling the end of D.J. Shockley's tenure in Atlanta. With that much of an investment (did I mention he cost lots of money?), the chances of Ryan sliding as far down as third on the depth chart are exceedingly low.
Can you live with this deal, or are your glazed eyes already raised to the heavens in fear?