Will Matt Ryan finish his career with the Atlanta Falcons?

The Atlanta Falcons have a stud at quarterback in Matt Ryan. Of all the things he’s been in his time in Atlanta, his durability may be the most underrated. But will Matt Ryan finish his career as a quarterback for the Falcons?

Matt Ryan has been at the helm of the Atlanta Falcons since his rookie year. He’s been a day one starter that has actually panned out. He didn’t have to sit and wait like Aaron Rodgers, he didn’t suffer an injury like Drew Brees, and he didn’t get a break because of an injury like Tom Brady.

He’s a former league MVP and there’s no secret that he wants to bring a Super Bowl to Atlanta as much as the fans want him to deliver the elusive Lombardi Trophy.

But if you look around the league and at the history, quarterbacks sometimes want to play longer than teams are willing to pay them for. It’s why Brett Favre ended up in a Vikings uniform. And it’s what we’re seeing play out with the Tom Brady saga and even Philip Rivers.

Brady is in his 40’s and Rivers is quickly approaching that mark but they each believe they have something to still contribute to their team. So what happens as Matt Ryan ages?

He’s 34 and there aren’t too many questions about how much he has left in the tank. Ryan still plays with passion and yes, he can still drop dimes on deep balls. He’s never been an extremely mobile quarterback but don’t sleep on his running ability.

The Falcons believe his window isn’t near closing as they have relied on Matt Schaub as a backup and haven’t selected a quarterback in the early rounds of the draft since 2008. In fact, they’ve spent those picks giving Matt whatever weapons he needs- Julio Jones, Calvin Ridley, Austin Hooper, Jake Matthews.

It also seems more and rarer that players spend their entire careers with teams. But then there are the Eli Manning’s who would rather call it a day than try to reinvent himself elsewhere or continue to spend life in the backup role.

And that’s the path Matt Ryan will hopefully be able to take. Instead of being forced out like Manning was in New York, or wading in the free-agent pool around the age of 38, perhaps Ryan will have captured his ring by then and be satisfied with every record he will have set as the Falcons quarterback,

We haven’t seen this situation yet in Atlanta under Arthur Blank, as there hasn’t been a steady presence under center like Ryan has been. But there is a history of Atlanta being the last stop for people, like Roddy White, Michael Turner, and Tony Gonzalez.

And if the fans could have it our way, Matt Ryan shouldn’t suit up for another team but let’s hope he’ll know when to fold ’em.