 What's up everybody and welcome to another edition of the Falcons final whistle podcast I'm Scott there here with Tori McElaney and Chris rim and I will bet you that you didn't expect to hear that Phrasing at the top of a podcast that soon after we just told you just told you that we were Saying goodbye after the season was over have a nice offseason signed my yearbook KIT We lied We just couldn't stand it anymore So now here you guys too much podcast too much Yeah, no doubt. I think really what it comes down to is Tori McElaney just wants more mugs, right? I do want more mugs if anyone wants to send me more mugs. I'm totally fine with that I have I got my parents got me an espresso maker for Christmas So like if anyone wants to send me any more deans favorite mugs and or or merchandise or merchandise I will happily take all of it. Thank you So Chris Tori and I we all huddled up during the offseason and we said, you know what that was so much fun So much fun. We just got is that what we said? Sure, that sounds like a good story. I think as I like to think that What we should tell people is we should tell people that everyone loved the podcast so much that it was just a mass demand Right for the podcast Yeah, that's what we need to go with that's our story We're clamoring in a scabbard bear male So you didn't put the questions what they were just saying where are the after it because the way Tori ended the pod I think she went on like a nice rant about Past rush so people sure did really people needed that content people needed that I'm pretty sure it probably went viral somewhere who knows yeah Hey, man, and hey You ask you quote-unquote ask we're gonna deliver what the heck So we have now the offseason edition and version of the Falcons final whistle podcast We're gonna tackle a question of the week throughout the course of the offseason We're gonna ponder great truths and we're gonna break things down in Including the first question of the week which is about Matt Ryan's future with the club. That's not a question. That's new, right? That's a question around for longer than Chris and I have been in this market I think longer than I've longer than I've been in this market Like I've only been covering the Falcons for two years, but I've been in them like Atlanta area So I know it's been a lot longer than we've all been around. Yeah, so we're really gonna break down Matt Ryan's future with the club. We're gonna and we're gonna strip away The stopwatch the stopwatch will be back next August. We just couldn't pay the stopwatch's royalty fee It was just I mean I I can still do some solid Sound effects if we need them. I think we're gonna Chris and I are gonna win on a majority vote. No on that Upset wow dagger to the heart to start the offseason podcast Something tells me that the pie there that the sound effects are still coming whether we've request them or right Yeah, I hate to break it to you, but it's a package deal when it comes to me But nonetheless, we are going to dissect and try to bring logic and reason to a topic that typically involves Throwing tomatoes and screaming and other people from across the aisle or through social media We're gonna give it the old college try I think trying to bring some rationalities Rationality to a topic that doesn't have very much. So we're gonna kind of hit a number of different things again No stopwatch no exact Amount of time on each topic, but we're gonna talk about Matt's 2021 campaign We're gonna talk about his contract which plays a major factor in what happens moving forward We're gonna give our big answers our big reveals midway through this podcast about whether he should return in 2022 So we can also talk about our thoughts on a succession plan and if a succession plan isn't executed in 2022 What the Falcons do at backup quarterback, but before we get to all that we have to thank our sponsor Microsoft Windows 11 The official operating system of the NFL and the Atlanta Falcons The only Windows 11 is here to bring you closer to what you love like this Falcons finalist podcast Learn all about the awesome new features of Windows 11 at windows.com and a big thank you to Microsoft for sticking around be on the season Thank you so much for that. Looking forward to working with Microsoft now and into the future so awesome love it and You know, I think that you guys are going to love this What can be a very polarizing conversation? Shall we say about about Matt Ryan and what they should do moving forward? It's also a polarizing conversation about how good he was in 2021 And you could throw stats at people and everybody has a different opinion But nonetheless just go over his football card, right as a quarterback his record as we all know seven and ten He threw for three thousand nine hundred and sixty eight yards the first time he's been under four thousand since 2010 20 touchdowns 12 interceptions a 90.4 passer rating, which is about on par with where he's been for of the last five years It's been he was sacked 40 times. That's actually shockingly a That's his lowest total since 2017 if you can believe that or not Wow, but what's the I think he was hit more times though. Oh, yeah, he was yeah I've seen some different numbers so I'm low to throw out a number But let's just say that they were all in the triple digits. They were all a league high For quarterback hits. He was under a lot of pressure So with all that kind of context involved chris, what was your take on matt ryan's 2021 campaign? Yeah, like I think we talked about before. I think this was the first season where matt was playing with a Y receiving core where he didn't have a first round pick leading that group in the y receiver core from He had roddy to julio and then to calvin and all the guys in between sunoo You know hardy jank, whatever you name it gonzalez. He's always had guys out there lamborghini's out there as leigh smith calls And this season he didn't have that luxury along with you know And an old line that you know, he was hit a lot more and though he says he's been running his whole career and Seems like he was running a lot more and You know scrambling a lot more. I don't have the specific stats on that but Yeah, and I think considering the situation. I think he did well I think I think I don't think he was playing around You know the bottom half of quarterbacks of the league You know, I also don't think he was playing at you know his mbp level But I think he was still playing at you know a solid kind of middle of the pack level and and I think he maximized The the roster and the players he was playing with Yeah, I I agree with that and I think it's one of those things I tell people a lot I'm like, you know, matt ryan did the best he could with what he had available And I say that with you knowing that you know, they didn't have calvin for the entire year I think that makes a huge difference And even you know, you do kind of substitute in cal pits and cal pits is a great target for matt ryan He's going to be a great target for years to come But there was a process there There was a learning curve there that I think matt and cal needed to get on the same page And and I think even matt talked about it a lot throughout the season that Once you got towards the back half of the season like they had much better communication and could kind of like Work off of each other really well I mean, you're also in a brand new system with Arthur smith and then of course there are the issues across the offensive line And the fact that matt ryan was hit as many times as he was in the pocket I mean matt ryan his game is not to be a running quarterback I know that we talk about maddie wills as a joke all the time But like maddie wills is like a joke like it's we know what matt ryan's game is and it's the stand in the pocket and throw the ball and so if you're getting hit With less than like two seconds in the pocket like that's It's it's really amazing that matt ryan is even still standing and injury-free at the end of 2021 considering the hit set he took but That's beside the point. I think we're kind of already looking ahead to the 2022 season as we should and and honestly when you just kind of look at his contract if if that's Because as god was talking about before like that's such a major point of conversation Around matt ryan it almost like the 2021 campaign was what it was But that contract is more of the the topic of conversation and for me Just kind of looking at it looking at the numbers on like spot rack or over the cap It's just kind of like this is Such a big chunk of money that the falcons Oh matt ryan because his deal has been restructured so many times and I just don't see a way to work Around it if you're wanting to move on from matt ryan Well, let's just take a look at the numbers. I'm staring it over the cap dot com and you look at his his 2022 breakdown again According to this website. His cap number is a not so small 48.6 million dollars That is 23.3 percent of this year's cap. It also comes with A dead money hit if they were to move on from him at 40 million there's an eight million dollar cap savings in 2023 it gets a bit more manageable 15 million in dead money his cap number still Incredibly high at 43.6 million with 28 million dollars in cap savings When we I'll be honest here guys We recorded this much of the podcast already before my computer decided to spontaneously combust It was really bad Not really. I mean I didn't cry, but it was close I almost did Because we come to this point in the conversation and the reason why I say all that is to give chris rims credit here Is that when the first time that we did that I listed all those numbers and I didn't include The the pre and post june 1 designations if they were to move on from him And I think that given what these numbers are tour you have them in front of you, right? Yeah, you want me to tell yeah because these play a factor in what we In how this needs to be evaluated Yeah, so if you trade matt ryan pre june 1st He would carry a dead cap hit of 40.5 million But you would have him off the books in 2023 But then if you tried him post june 1st That splits the dead money hits over two years. So 24.9 million in 2022 and then 15.6 million in 2023 and that 15.6 million Is pretty on par to if we're if we're wanting to use a real world example the falcons Oh around that for julio in 2022. That's his dead cap Or his dead hip. Yeah, right. So when you evaluate all those numbers, right chris I know there's a lot of numbers probably floating around so many numbers But but just generally when you evaluate the the contract I mean, I think the first instinct is it's impossible. Look at that dead money hit Maybe with the june 1 designation. Maybe it's not. I mean arthur smith said never say never So never say never. I don't know. How are you looking at? At all that. Yeah, as I said when we first recorded this, I think and before I think Well, I preface this by saying I like I said before I think matt should stay I think the best option would be to keep him on the team But like I said, it's not I think sometimes people make it seem like it's impossible Like there's no way that the falcons could ever get rid of him But that's just not the case like if they if They want to move on from that there's a situation where they could cut their losses and it not be The biggest cap it in nfl history The eagles still have that I grew up in philadelphia. I saw the karson wench drama firsthand 33 million dollar cap it things the biggest in nfl history And the eagles made the playoffs and team they traded him to didn't and they got a first rounder And now they have three in this year's draft So there's there are ways to I think maneuvered obviously I was a complete different situation a guy asked out matt has been clear that he doesn't want out So the eagles definitely didn't want to do that, but they had to do it So I say all that to say it's not impossible and um the june 1st designation makes it So it's a little bit less where it's 24. You say tory instead of 40 48 or 40. Yeah Yeah, yeah, it's it's 24.9 instead of 40.5 Yeah, so so yeah, that that's basically what I would say, you know Never say never and I don't think it's impossible But I think the best bet would be to build around a guy Who is still playing good football and you have veterans also if you get rid of matt and you bring in You know, maybe someone from this year's draft to be evaluators have said None of them seem to look like surefire guys at least in year one or Take some time to develop. I think that would There'll be guys on the team who wouldn't like that veterans like a grady jared or you know guys who want to win That might turn them off and make them Want to want to play elsewhere and look elsewhere if things feel like it's a rebuild Yeah, I think it's oh go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead. You do it I mean, I was just gonna say like I completely agree that it you know while it's not impossible I think it's it's one of those things where it's like There are more that we have to talk about here besides just the money the money is like 75 percent of the conversation because it has to be but There's also the whole idea of assist of having a plan in place for when matt ryan is no longer your quarterback And like chris was saying I also am in the belief that I don't know and granted I haven't done my complete Draft review of all the draftable guys this year as I normally do I'm about to go on vacation y'all. So like I'll do that when I get back And then you'll get all of my draft content. Don't worry. I know everybody is waiting with vaded breath for that Um, she says sarcastically But but what I will say is like I agree that as of right now I don't see an opportunity to draft someone and immediately have them come in. That's not something that I feel like is is a Workable solution for me. I I tend to agree that what you got to do is you understand the situation that matt ryan presents with his contract honestly, just Do what you got to do to to make that manageable But build up around matt ryan so that one day when you do get a quarterback into atlanta That's going to take over for matt ryan. Whether it be through free agency or through the draft You have a team around him that can support his you know Learning curve if that's kind of what we want to call it that can support his growth because if you have a Rebuilding team and a rebuilding quarterback That's not really a recipe for success For any team anywhere in any league So I think that's kind of where my mind is at if you're not even just thinking about The contract and you're just kind of thinking about the next steps for the falcons post post the matt ryan era there's an element of Of how a quarterback does in the nfl. It's not 100 but there's an element of that success plan A success plan not a succession plan that involves The organization that you go to the coach you fall into the scheme you fall into the team around you We've seen some guys who can chuck at 70 yards and and and and hit a dime bust Who are drafted in the top 10 of which there are a lot of top 10 quarterbacks that don't go according to plan And you see some of these guys they come into good situations and they are they're able to hit the ground running And I think that's a huge advantage and if you're trying to Execute a plan now. This is an extreme example, right? Because they had the number one pick but to go from manning to luck, right or from barb to rogers, right? Those things don't happen very often but to get yourself in the best possible position You want that younger player to come in and not a la david car, right? Or even just in fields where they're literally running for their life and they're not They're playing to borrow arthur smith's term. They're playing survivor. They're not playing football They're just trying to live Yeah, and I think that that part of that goes into it. So why not take advantage of a draft that doesn't have a bunch of quarterbacks that deserve top 10 picks no matter where they're Selected and build up the team as much as you can around him on on offense and defense and give matt The best chance to succeed and give the quarterback of the future the best chance to succeed So in my opinion, my vote is Y'all you can't renegotiate the the steal again and again and again. So eat it swallow the pill Go with matt ryan. He gives the he gives you the the best chance to win And if you continue to build up this roster, he gives the next guy The best chance to win matt's under contract for two years. You don't have to force it So it seems like we all kind of feel like Unless an off unless an offer and like maybe even an eagles colts type offer blows you away You want to keep him here? Does that sound accurate? If that's the case chris or anybody does that Prevent if matt ryan's here. Does that prevent you from drafting a quarterback high? You still have a depth chart to fill out at quarterback Could you execute the succession plan and still keep matt matt ryan around? I don't know Do you draft a quarterback at all in 2022? That's my question. Or do you kind of kick the can down the road for one more year? Yeah, I mean, I think I think again, like I think in terms of succession plan in in 2022 drafting a quarterback I think it depends on who they like It depends on who they like So if you like if you think that there's potential again, if you think there's potential that Because I don't think they're gonna draft a quarterback in the first round if they did people would be up in arms with that The um dumpster fire that is falcons twitter would actually explode. I think yeah, so I don't yeah, and I don't and I don't think I don't think they would use a Why like I said don't like I keep talking about the eagles I didn't think the eagles are gonna use jaylon herds in the second round when they had other needs So I don't know never think never I'm not in I'm not in their heads, but when you look at the guys, right? It's uh, It's matt corral, kenny pickett, malik willis, karson strong from nevada, sam howe and desmond ridder And ridder has a fourth round grade All the other corral to willis have first round grades strong and howe have second round grades So uh, according to most places like and uh, the one i'm looking at now is cbs sports So I guess what I'm saying is Do you think Like would you use a second on a quarterback? When you could when you're in a deep pass rush draft when you could get a pass rusher possibly in the in the second round or You know what I mean, or would you? Use a pick on desmond ridder maybe later in the draft if you think he has a potential to do that Or do you just want to wait next year? Um and try with that crop of qbs or Looking or or not even draft one at all and when matt's matt's, you know on his way out You try and trade for a quarterback who's maybe been around the league who's a little bit younger I think a succession plan would be Probably the best option like having a guy behind matt who can just fill in the role I know people kind of use that patrick mahomes example too much like it just that just happens like that But I think you know what I mean it doesn't it doesn't work just work like that But I think it's the best I think it's definitely the best way to go to just get a guy sit him For however long unless he shows you that he's he's prepared Or or better than the guy you have Especially when you have a guy like matt who is who seemed he seems to be from outside In just like a good professional. That's what everyone says about him. He goes about things the right way So you teach a guy the right way to go about things and then have him take the reins In in his second year or third year. So all know I'm saying I'm not sure about a succession plan in 2022 with what the evaluators are saying about this This quarterback class, but I think a succession plan is the best option and that that could come next year I don't know about this year yes, um, I look at it and in Just to take a quarterback just to take one start moving into the later rounds I think and again, it all depends on what they think if they fall in love head over heels with somebody Just because this is a thinner class or whatever you fall head over heels and love You want to start sending valentines to somebody then you just go move heaven and earth to get them That's it. You just do it But it I don't see a point in well, we're that we're not going to take a quarterback high So we'll just take one in the fifth or sixth round and try to develop a minute And if it doesn't work, it doesn't work I don't want to waste those picks because those picks can turn into wrestle gauge and foyer aluacan, right? Yeah, I think the odds of doing that are better outside of the quarterback position You can get somebody who can help you right away. So I think bottom line I'm I side with with with chris that a succession plan is the right way to go I think 2023 is the right time if if we're talking about in a vacuum in a perfect world 2023 Is the right time to do it? Uh, so that's my vote there tori Your vote and if we all agree that we got to figure out who's gonna be the backer So so honestly, like I guess I will play kind of devil's advocate here and kind of go away from this Discession plan and go towards like the free agency market and look at 2023 2024 and who is available what moves you could make what like if someone wants to trade for a guy I mean, we're I just kind of look at this past year and this is actually a conversation that I was having with will mcfadden on the falconaholic podcast Not too long ago But we were talking about this whole idea of matt ryan and and we were talking about the this whole idea that quarterbacks are moving around this league in a way that I don't know if we've really seen Like we we are seeing guys move to different teams. I mean and and not staying Where they were drafted and and bringing guys in and Making all these really big time deals for quarterbacks And I think just in the last year and a half two years. We've seen some major quarterback moves across the league So if that is a trend that continues, why couldn't the falcons be in the conversation to bring a guy From another team make a trade For a you know, you think about like the mackey staff for an example, you know Like why couldn't the falcons do something like that when they're in a better position? Part of the cap and and bringing in guys from the 2022 2023 draft that they've developed, you know, I think that's also Let's think about this What did the tennessee titans do when they had a number two overall draft pick? And then they traded for ryan tannahill and who was the offensive coordinator when they Made the switch in season Right. It's awesome. Yeah. It was funny. I totally interrupted what you were No, no, you're good But I had this whole argument against you walking and be like they're gonna want a younger quarterback Arthur smith will want a chance to start this regime with a guy that he can develop And then I was like well Arthur smith just worked your argument, dude Like because he did it the other way so To your point, which I think is a good one is that we can't just eliminate that on spec, right? Yeah, and I think like that's why I brought it up is because I was like, you know what like this is something that I think could happen. This is definitely something I think they would weigh In this conversation about what do we do after the matt ryan era? And so that I'm gonna throw that on the table. I'm not saying that that's like my vote I'm just throwing it out there to give people something to think about Yeah, and I think Hopefully what everybody's taken from this conversation is that There are a lot of things to think about and I know that at times When fans hear Arthur Smith say never say never or he doesn't want to make a commitment in december about an action That would happen in april or may or in 2023, you know, you know like down the line, right? He's basically saying never say never even though we think and I think it's a good and solid educated guess That matt ryan is going to be the the quarterback in 2022 That look at all these options that we've discussed, right? I think that the deeper that we dove into it the more we think about okay post june 1 Crazier things have happened. Okay. They have to draft somebody in the top 10 to You know to have a succession plan. Well, do they or can they go find a veteran? I think that Deep down Arthur's right, right? Is that anything can happen here? They've got options. They've got mobility and they have a front office that is not so hard headed That they're willing to take evaluate all of these different opportunities um, that's what makes this conversation fun and hopefully Y'all enjoyed it because we're going to be doing these things on a regular basis um, I encourage everybody to do what We always ask them to do five star Rating review all that fun stuff for the falcons final whistle Any final thoughts from the group? I think I ended this without telling you guys I was going to end it No, no, no I think like y'all just like keep up with the podcast because I think this is going to be a fun exercise for us to to kind of talk about our thoughts and feelings about all this and And honestly like tweet us your thoughts about the podcast and kind of what you want us to talk about Like so I was talking about If you want to send us any recommendations of things you want to hear on the podcast definitely tweet us Slide into the instagram DMs Do what you got to do to get your questions answered because we are honestly I I would like to think that we're going to do this like all off season So we have a lot of topics that we can kind of go over so anything that you guys want to listen to Um, just let us know Yeah Just make sure you aren't asking tory if the falcons are going to resign cp Here's the thing you can do that. Here's the thing you can do you can ask me all day long If the falcons are going to resign cp do not do it when we are talking on a dating app, okay? I am back on the dating and I'm dead and I am back on the dating apps after taking the season off And what I will say is I don't know if you all saw if y'all follow me on twitter I've already gone on this rant, but I'm about to do it again because just brought it up I matched with like I don't know like 10 different guys on the dating app and Five of the 10 five of the 10 Ask me if the falcons are going to resign cp and honestly I'm just going to tell them like y'all listen to the podcast when we talk about that I'm not answering that on this like you can ask me about um my uh favorite TV show or what I like to do on a date do not ask me about the falcons Another another vibe Wow, chris rem what a what a closer topic Tori thanks for telling the story. Thank you all for listening. I need to recover. I need a minute Oh, thank you guys so much for uh listening to this one More more antics more football conversation coming up next week. Talk to you later