FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons have agreed to a five-year contract extension that will make the quarterback one of the league’s highest paid players.
The extension, which came just before the first practice of training camp, guarantees Ryan $59 million, and can be worth up to $103.75 million, a $20.75 million average annual salary, league sources told ESPN senior analyst Chris Mortensen. Ryan will make $63 million in the first three years, the sources said.
Ryan’s extension ranks him near Aaron Rodgers, Joe Flacco, Drew Brees and Peyton Manning among the league’s top-paid players.
The team will hold a news conference at 6:15 p.m. ET.
Ryan had one year remaining on his rookie contract, but the Falcons had been working for months to lock him up for the long term. He is the face of the franchise, and the team wanted to make certain he is around when the Falcons move into a new stadium in 2017.
He is coming off the best season of his five-year career and took the Falcons to last season’s NFC Championship Game. Ryan has led the Falcons, a franchise that never had back-to-back winning seasons before his arrival, to five consecutive winning seasons.
This article was originally posted on ESPN.com
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