Breaking Down Matt Ryan's $150M Extension

Michael Ginnitti
Michael Ginnitti, Managing Editor & NFL/MLB ExpertMay 04, 2018
© USA TODAY Sports

It wasn’t a matter of if, but when would Matt Ryan become the next-man-up as the NFL’s highest paid player, but boy did he come away from a contract.

It’s often silly to measure an NFL contract by it’s average annual value, as much of what lies within a major football deal is generally fluff. This is not the case with Ryan’s new 5 year, $150 million extension with the Falcons. We’ll break down the numbers and structure to provide some insight as to what this all means. 


 

Cap Figures

The Falcons actually saved $3.95M in 2018 cap space with this extension, but served out a huge pile of cash to do so. Ryan will see his cap figure jump from $17.7M this year to $22.8M in 2019. From there it rises substantially up to $31.8M, $34.3M, & $35M through 2022. His 2023 season comes with a $30M cap figure should he still be active on the deal. 

Ryan’s $17.7M cap figure for 2018 now ranks 16th among active QBs. 

 

Cash Flow
Ryan will pull in a whopping $52.5M in 2018, thanks to a $46.5M signing bonus and $6M base salary. It’s the highest 1-year intake for a player in history, surpassing Matthew Stafford’s $51M.

He’ll earn another $21M in 2019, bringing his two-year total to $73.5M, and another $25.2M in 2020, meaning $94.5M through 3 years - and it’s all 100% guaranteed.

In other words, with $94.5M guaranteed at signing across 3 years, Matt Ryan has actually secured a contract worth $31.5M per year while thinking in these terms.


Guaranteed Money
As noted above, the contract includes $94.5M fully guaranteed at signing. This includes his $46.5M signing bonus, a $6M salary for 2018, an $11.5M salary for 2019, a $10M option bonus for 2019 (basically just another signing bonus), and a $20.5M salary for 2020. $94.5M, all in three years, all 100% guaranteed.

If he’s on the roster next March (and he will be), $5.5M of his 2021 salary becomes fully guaranteed, bringing the likely total guarantees on this deal to a nice, round $100M - the most ever.


Rankings
Not that the obvious needs to be stated, but:

  • New Money AAV: $30M, 1st All-Time
  • Signing Bonus: $46.5M, 2nd All-Time (Stafford, $50M)
  • 1-year Cash: $52.5M, 1st All-Time
  • 2-year Cash: $74M, 1st All-Time
  • 3-year Cash: $94.5M, 1st All-Time
  • GTD at Signing: $94.5M, 1st All-Time
  • Total GTD: $100M, 1st All-Time
  • % GTD at Signing: 63%, 2nd (Eli Manning, 64.3%)

 

View Matt Ryan’s contract details 

Aaron Rodgers is officially on the clock.

 


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