Matt Ryan’s New Deal Raises the Bar for NFL Contracts

The deal has an annual value of $30 million and included $100 million guaranteed.

Matt Ryan
Matt Ryan #2 of the Atlanta Falcons runs out on the field prior to the game against the Cleveland Browns. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
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Matty Ice just landed himself a heap of cold, hard cash.

Under the terms of his new contract with the Atlanta Falcons, quarterback Matt Ryan is set to earn an unprecedented $100 million in guaranteed money over the next three seasons.

None of the money – “all clean cash” as a source explained it to ProFootballTalk – that he is due is based on per-game roster bonuses, workout bonuses or incentives, so all that Ryan has to do to hold up his end of the six-year deal is show up and play through 2023.

If he does that and the Falcons don’t cut him after 2020, Ryan can earn an additional $17.5 million in 2021, $23.75 million in 2022 and $28 million in 2023 in roster bonuses and salary.

Given those figures, soon-to-be-33-year-old Ryan is now the highest-paid player in the league and the first NFL player to earn $30 million per year.

Viking Kirk Cousins set the previous record for average annual salary ($28 million), followed by 49er Jimmy Garoppolo ($27.5 million) and Lion Matthew Stafford ($27 million).

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