On the verge of NFL free agency, the Falcons reportedly restructured the contract of quarterback Matt Ryan in order to create an additional $12 million in cap space.
While the move does reduce Ryan’s cap hit significantly for the upcoming season, Carl Dukes and Mike Bell expressed their opinion that “kicking the can down the road” may not be the right course of action.
“I don’t like it," Bell said on a Sunday edition of Dukes & Bell on 92.9 The Game. "I think we should just rip the band-aid off and I wish we could’ve found a trade partner, but again, we were in a catch-22 because the cap hit was so huge. Even had we move Matt off the roster, we’d still be stuck with a giant black hole and this would be a completely lost season which I think we need to do. I still think we have too many needs on this team to turn it around while Matt is still here.”
The creation of additional cap room is helpful, but Bell reiterated his belief that the holes throughout the roster can only truly be fixed in the draft as opposed to in free agency.
Dukes similarly critiqued the decision to restructure Ryan’s deal yet again, saying that similar moves in the past haven’t netted the desired result.
“It’s the fourth straight year that they’ve restructured Ryan’s contract…Here’s the bigger issue. It’s not the restructuring, it’s the fact that we haven’t won while he’s been restructured. Every year it’s happened and you think ‘well, we’re saving money and we’re going to get better,’ we haven’t. We haven’t gone to the playoffs, we haven’t gotten better,” Dukes said.
Setting their opinions on the move aside, Dukes did explain that because of the size of Ryan’s cap hit, “they had no choice” if the Falcons hoped to create some room ahead of free agency. The Falcons could use that additional space to re-sign a key 2021 contributor such as RB/WR Cordarrelle Patterson or leading tackler Foye Oluokun.
Ryan will be 37-years-old when the 2022 season begins—his 15th in the NFL—and remains under contract through the 2023 season.
