Matt Ryan just recently signed a five-year contract extension with the Atlanta Falcons which will pay him $100 million guaranteed. His new deal makes him the first NFL player to reach the $30 million per year threshold.
There has been some criticism about the deal because there are still some who feel that he can't have success when the lights shine brightest, the NFL playoffs.
Roddy White, the Falcons all-time leading receiver doesn't feel that way and says that Ryan deserves all the money that he's going to get.
“Matt deserves all the money he's going to get, man,” White told ESPN. “He's worked hard. He's gotten his teams to multiple playoff appearances. He won the MVP. They had a Super Bowl run. When you have all the accolades that he's accomplished — he's the fastest quarterback to throw for 40,000 yards — there's just so many things. And him just playing at a high level each and every year, it commands big dollars when you put out his résumé.
“The only thing left is winning the Super Bowl. Everything else speaks volumes of how consistent he's been year in and year out in the NFL.”
For Ryan and the Falcons, they were so close to winning that Super Bowl and he actually played really well against the New England Patriots, but defensive struggles and a few questionable coaching decisions did him in.
“Football is such a team sport, and you have to have so many ducks line up, so it takes more than a quarterback to win it,” White said. “You're going to get criticized when you make as much money as he has over the last 10 years. But that doesn't have anything to do with his play. It's been consistent. You just have to find a way to win the big one.”
With the new contract, the stakes have been raised for Ryan, and anything less than that Super Bowl win before this contract is over will be considered a failure in most peoples eyes.
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