The B.S. Report: Is Matt Ryan worth the contract?

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Last week Matt Ryan won the lottery. No, he didn’t walk into a Flash Foods and get a scratch or have his numbers come up. He signed yet another huge NFL contract.

The last one he signed, almost five years ago, was for $103.75 million. This one is for five years and another $150 million. It’s very possible that by the time Ryan is finished, Arthur Blank would have paid him a quarter of a billion dollars.

Yeah, Ryan won the Power Ball. But look, he deserves it. He’s the best quarterback the Falcons have ever had. He’s the most successful quarterback the Falcons have ever had. And with the state of the position somewhat weak in the NFL right now, the Falcons are lucky to have such a good quarterback. Now that he’s got this big deal, the expectations are through the roof.

Now, we will expect Ryan to get this team back to the Super Bowl – and win it this time. Of course, it wasn’t his fault they lost it 15 months ago. But with this new contract, and knowing he’s not getting any younger – he turns 33 next week – Ryan will be expected to bring this franchise a championship. He knows it. That’s why he said it Monday in his press conference. He also knows that elite quarterbacks are more recognized for their championships than their stats.

If Ryan never wins a Super Bowl, he might be the modern-day Dan Marino, who was one of the best quarterbacks of all time when he was with the Dolphins, but Marino never won it all.

It’s difficult to say this is all up to Ryan. He needs help all over the field, particularly with those in front of him on the offensive line. And he needs his coach to not choke if they ever get a 25-point lead in the Super Bowl again. But when a player gets paid this much money, it’s usually up to him to lead a team to a championship.

We can have many examples where a highly-paid player falls short in helping his team win it all, and whether it is fair or not he’s the one who gets blamed. That’s just the way it is. — The Falcons have a window that is closing by the season. We have no idea how effective Ryan will be in three years, when he’s 36. Maybe he can be like Drew Brees and Tom Brady and play well into his late-30s, but we just don’t know.

And then there’s the bubbling salary cap issues that could force the Falcons to cut many good players. This team really has the next two years to do something special. Ryan must lead this team to a championship, or like it or not, the richest man in the room not named Arthur Blank might be the one who will be blamed.