On Thursday, the Atlanta Falcons announced that Matt Ryan had signed a new contract, and it’s pretty rich. $100 million guaranteed, $30 million a year. We’ll probably get the nitty gritty soon by cap analysts as the numbers come out because as you all know, the numbers can lie, but it’s safe to say Matt Ryan got paaaaiiiiiid.
Does anyone remember the Jimmy Garoppolo contract? It seems like so long ago, but it was only a few months. When Garoppolo signed his deal it made him the highest paid quarterback in the league. He’s not now, $27.5 million is not $30 million.
Matt Ryan got $100 million guaranteed? Remember when Jimmy G got $74 million guaranteed?
There’s no denying that the 49ers backed up the brinks truck to get Garoppolo to sign, but doing it was good timing. Now that Ryan and Kirk Cousins (three-year, $84 million, all guaranteed) have had their monster deals, do you think the 49ers would be paying that same contract now?
The floor for negotiations could have been even worse. With Aaron Rodgers waiting in the wings for his new contract, things are only going to get more expensive. Until then, signing Garoppolo as early as the 49ers did was probably the right move for everyone.
Does anyone want to think about what that market would be at the end of next offseason that’s not a floor anymore. Those negotiations start at the ceiling.