Incase you missed it, the Falcons yesterday reached an agreement with the 3rd overall pick in the draft, Matt Ryan. And the deal is ridiculous. It's a 6 year, $72 million deal that includes $34.75 million in guaranteed money. Yes, that's right. Matt Ryan is getting $72 million from the Falcons as the #3 overall pick.
And we wonder why the owners opted out of the current CBA.
Consider this. Last season's #1 overall pick, JaMarcus Russell, signed a 6 year, $61 million deal which included $29 million in guarantees (that could increase up to $32 million). And he had to hold out until September 10 to get that deal. Matt Ryan, on the other hand, gets a deal that is worth $11 million more in total value and $5 million kore in guaranteed money less than 4 weeks after he was drafted 3rd overall. Not first. Third.
Wow.
OK. Let me take a deep breath before continuing.
Alright. The point of this post, though, is not to just talk about how amazed I am about this deal the Falcons just handed Ryan. I think we all need to take a step back for a moment and just talk about what an amazing job Miami's front office did reaching the deal that they did with Jake Long. Long's deal of 5 years, $57.75 million, which includes $30 million in guaranteed money looks like a steal right now. Well, relatively speaking, of course. Remember, Long instantly became the highest paid offensive lineman in the league despite not ever having played a single down.
Now we don't know exactly how Long's or Ryan's contract breaks down. However, if you break down the deals to basic yearly averages, the Dolphins did a hell of a job with their deal for Jake.
| Yrs | Total | Guar | Total/Yr | Guar/Yr | |
| Jake Long | 5 | $57.75 | $30 | $11.55 | $6 |
| Matt Ryan | 6 | $72 | $34.75 | $12 | $5.79 |
So as you can see, the Dolphins are paying the #1 overall pick less money per year than the Falcons are paying the #3 overall pick. Yes, the Dolphins had to guarantee a little bit more, but that's well worth the long-term benefit that the Dolphins achieved.
Of course, the one downside here is that Long will hit the open market a year earlier. So let's just hope Jake comes in and excels right from the beginning, meaning the Dolphins would lock him up to a long-term deal before he ever sniffs free agency.
Kudos to the Dolphins' front office!