Aaron Rodgers won the NFL MVP Award in 2020, his age-37 season. Tom Brady led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a blowout victory in Super Bowl LV at the ripe age of 43.
With that in mind, Peter King of NBC Sports is confused why some outlets believe that the Atlanta Falcons will use the No. 4 overall pick to find the successor to Matt Ryan, who will turn 36 in May:
"If I am the Atlanta Falcons, I wonder why everyone on the outside world is giving us a quarterback. Because [with] this quarterback - who says that he wants to play into his 40s - you've got the position solved for the next four or five years. Now, it could be that they don't want to pay Matt Ryan $40 million or whatever...he's got a huge contract, as you know. And maybe they don't want to pay him that. But the fact is, if the [salary] cap starting in 2023 starts to go up - and in 2024 and 2025 it goes up - that's gonna be a manageable salary to be able to handle. And so I guess what I'm saying is, if I'm the Atlanta Falcons, I'm either trading that pick or I'm not taking a quarterback."
The possibility of the Falcons trading down from the No. 4 pick - especially given that it's a fait accompli that the first three teams will take quarterbacks - has become an intriguing draft storyline.
Earlier this week, ESPN's Adam Schefter says that teams have been in touch with the Falcons about obtaining the selection, adding that the organization is "open to moving" the fourth pick. NFL Media's Peter Schrager even suggested the idea of the Falcons moving all the way down to pick No. 15, allowing them to obtain a bounty of future picks in return.
The question then becomes how much Falcons brass think Ryan has left remaining. Pro Football Focus graded Ryan as the 12th-best quarterback in 2020, so the former NFL MVP is still more than capable of leading a team to the postseason currently. There is a reality, though, that the Falcons are probably a year or two away from being able to put a competitive roster around Ryan, and it's hard to know how high of a level he'll be playing at when that time comes.
ESPN's Chris Mortenson has previously reported that new Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot and head coach Arthur Smith didn't have the same vision for the No. 4 pick, with Fontenot perhaps more inclined to select a quarterback. However, D. Orlando Ledbetter of The Atlanta Journal Constitution now says that the two are "aligned" on how to proceed with the pick. Exactly what conclusion they've come to remains to be seen.
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