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The Falcons Done Lost Their Damn Mind

By Brinson | May 22, 2008

I gotsa get up out of here.

Clay Davis quotes aside, the Falcons really are ridiculous. They just gave Matt Ryan, a.k.a. Matty Ice, a six year, $72 million deal, with $34.75 million guaranteed. That’s like the whole thing about the NFL — the money’s not supposed to be a lock.

I mean, you can get the cash locked up, if you’re a superstar who is going to reciprocate that guarantee with good onfield play. But Ryan has never taken a snap in a professional football game, unless you count lining up against the Hurricanes twice a year (zing!)

I kind of thought Ryan was overrated heading into the draft (although admittedly, the idea of trading up to the third spot in the draft got me a little prematurely enthused) and I certainly wasn’t the only one, although don’t tell Modd McShiper that it was a bad pick.

Apparently, Kevin Mawae, NFLPA President, isn’t particularly thrilled with the contract either.

“As a guy who has been in the league for 14 now going on 15 years and being around other veteran guys, for a young guy to get paid that kind of money and never steps foot on an NFL football field, it’s a little disheartening to think of,” Mawae said. “It makes it tough for a guy who’s proven himself to say ‘I want that kind of money’ when the owners, all they’re going to say is, ‘Well, you weren’t a first-round pick.’

“And I know there is sentiment around the league amongst the players like, ‘Let’s do something to control these salaries and control these signing bonuses’ and things like that, and I know that’s something that the owners are talking about and I’m sure that’s going to play into this round of negotiations for this collective bargaining agreement,” he said.

He has a good point though, and this is exactly why the NBA caps rookie’s salaries — because teams and ownership like the Atlanta Falcons are stupid risky enough to hand out 32 million guaranteed to someone who’s only competition has come against the ACC. Yes, he could be the next, uh, Hasselback, but where does that put you 32 mil later?

It has been a good offseason of recovery for the Atlanta Falcons in terms of beneficial publicity brought on from dropping tons of money on newly infused talent, but I fail to see how either the Michael Turner or Ryan signings are going to help them long term.