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Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan says he is not worried about his next contract as other stars in the league wrap up more lucrative deals. Ryan expressed support for fellow quarterbacks Derek Carr, who recently signed a five-year, $125 million contract with the Oakland Raiders, and Detroit Lions' Matthew Stafford, who has one year and $16.5 million left on his deal and likely next in line to be rewarded.
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The 32-year-old Ryan, coming off an NFL MVP season, still has two years and $35 million remaining on the five-year, $103.75 million extension he signed in July 2013 that included $59 million guaranteed.
"That's just kind of the nature of the business," Ryan told ESPN on Tuesday, referring to quarterback contracts. "Those guys have all played really well. Derek signed a new contract this offseason, and he's played great. Matthew Stafford's is coming up, and he deserves it. He's played really, really well and competed so hard throughout his career.
"That's just the business side of it. I'm never worried too much about that. I've always tried to let the business people handle the business and for me, just try and take care of what I can control, and that's playing good and preparing the right way. And I've always felt like if you do that, the business side of it will take care of itself. But certainly, those guys are deserving of what's coming their way."
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck was the highest-paid player in terms of average per year when he signed an extension through 2021 last June worth $24.594 million per year ($87 million guaranteed), before Carr went to the top with $25 million per year ($70.2 million guaranteed).
Falcons owner Arthur Blank said at the Super Bowl that Ryan "needs to be compensated well, certainly. And he will be."
Ryan, the third-overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft, set franchise records in passing yards (4,944), touchdowns (38), passer rating (117.1), completion percentage (69.9) and 25-plus-yard passes (42) last season.
Ryan, who is entering his 10th NFL season, told ESPN's NFL Live that he appreciates Blank's support and revealed contract talks have not started between the two sides.
"You know, I'm just happy to be a part of the organization, for sure," Ryan said. "I've felt such great support from Arthur throughout my entire career. When your owner has your back and he's been supportive like Arthur has been throughout my entire career, trust me, that feels really good."
Meanwhile, Ryan said that coming back from the Super Bowl LI overtime loss when the Falcons blew a 28-3 third-quarter lead against the New England Patriots was difficult.
"It takes a little bit of time, there's no question about that," Ryan told Bruce Murray and Phil Savage of SiriusXM NFL Radio. "I think that the further you go and don't end up winning that, the tougher it is. But at the same time, for me it was one of those things that you think about it, you try and assess what you could have done better, what you would do differently moving forward. And then, ultimately, you've got to move on.
"I felt like I took a couple weeks to get away from it and spend time just relaxing and kind of disappearing for a bit. But when I got back and we started to work on this 2017 season and the team that we have now, all of my focus goes there. I think you'll always have a little bit of that scar that kind of drives you and that's fine. Never let go of that, but our focus is 100 percent about what we're doing and what we're moving forward to."
