Matt Ryan needs to follow Ben Roethlisberger’s lead if he cares about winning

Matt Ryan needs to follow Ben Roethlisberger’s lead if he cares about winning

If Matt Ryan cares in any way about winning in the waning years of his career, he needs to take a page out of the book of Ben Roethlisberger.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Thursday that the Pittsburgh Steelers had signed a new contract with QB Ben Roethlisberger in which he had agreed to take a reduction in pay to stay with the franchise.

According to Schefter, Roethlisberger willingly reduced his pay to $14 million from $19 million in the final year of his contract and spread the cash payment through 2022. As a result, it lowered the cap hit by more than $15 million.

Roethlisberger’s contract previously ran through the 2021 season and he was slated to have a $41.2 million cap hit for this season, which the Steelers said they could not pay.

If Matt Ryan is serious about winning in the final few years of his career, he needs to follow after Big Ben

Even the most adamant Matt Ryan hater should be able to understand that he is better than Roethlisberger at the stage of the both quarterback’s careers.

Ryan is still putting up high numbers and there is hope that he can show something similar to the 2017 season with Arthur Smith’s new offensive system in place.

That being said, Ryan is going to have to make a decision when it comes to his career: Does he care about the money (that he rightfully is owed by the way) or does he care about winning?

Ryan absolutely can rework his contract to give the Falcons a more favorable discount- even if it’s spread out over another season or so- and allow the franchise an opportunity to bring in some talent as a result. It’s not just restructuring a deal, either.

Ryan can work out a new deal and come to agreement with the Falcons if he wants to help the franchise free up cap space- which they’re in dire need of doing, by the way- but it’s his legal right not to do anything. No one could blame Ryan for taking the money he signed for, but he is scheduled to have the largest cap hit of any player in the league for the 2021 season.

For an Atlanta Falcons franchise that has been heavily mismanaged, that spells major trouble.

In the end, though, it’s up to him. Does he want to take a pay cut to potentially be a contender in the final few years of his career? Or does he want to make as much money as possible (that he originally signed for) and see where the cards lay a couple of years from now?

We’re not saying he will or that it will even be considered, but there’s something to be said for a QB coming to save his franchise (in many circumstances that are out of the new leadership’s control) if he chose to go the route of Big Ben.

Again, we know that Matt Ryan isn’t Ben Roethlisberger. He’s much better and much more viable. But the point remains the same: To win you have to sacrifice and this is a situation where it might cost Ryan some money if he wants to be a contender again before he leaves Atlanta.