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With the ink barely dry on Matt Ryan's new contract, the numbers are looking even more impressive on paper than in headlines. Ryan became the NFL's highest paid player on Thursday when he agreed to a staggering five-year contract with the Atlanta Falcons that will pay him $150 million.
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The most notable part of the deal is the amount of money that is fully guaranteed -- $100 million according to multiple reports and at least $94.5 million, according to profootballtalks.com.
In breaking down the deal, profootballtalks.com details how the soon-to-be 33-year-old Ryan surpassed the three-year, $84 million guaranteed contract signed by Kirk Cousins with the Minnesota Vikings in March.
The only way Ryan will not receive every penny of the $100 million guaranteed would be for the Falcons to cut him prior to the start of the 2019 calendar season. And even if that happened, Atlanta would only recoup $5.5 million of an injury guarantee and still be on the hook for $94.5 million.
"Matt is getting what he has earned and we all know the marketplace for a great quarterback," Falcons owner Arthur Blank told ESPN's Chris Mortensen on Thursday. "League revenues are up, club revenues are up, new stadiums and the players are the heart of the game.
"So, yes, we were very generous with Matt and I think he'll be able to feed those new twin babies. Since we drafted him in 2008, he's been the model face of the franchise, a great leader and he has embraced our values. He has led us on and off the field."
Ryan was entering the final year of his contract, and the Falcons could not proceed with free agency moves until the deal was completed.
As part of the deal, Ryan received a guaranteed signing bonus of $46.5 million along with guaranteed salaries of $6 million in 2018, $11.5 million in 2019, $20.5 million in 2020 and $23 million on 2021. He also receives a $10 million option bonus for 2019.
The pact extends through the 2023 season for Ryan, who will enter his 11th NFL season in 2018. He has been selected to the Pro Bowl four times, and he was named the league's MVP in 2016, when he took the Falcons to the Super Bowl. Atlanta led that Super Bowl game 28-3, but lost 34-28 in overtime to the New England Patriots.
Ryan has started 58 regular-season games for the Falcons since he was a first-round pick (third overall) in the 2008 NFL Draft. He has also started 10 playoff games.
For his career, Ryan has completed 64.9 percent of his passes for 41,796 yards and 260 touchdowns with 126 interceptions.
While leading the Falcons to a 10-6 regular-season record in 2017, Ryan completed 64.7 percent of his passes for 4,095 yards, 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. In two playoff games, he had a 65.2 completion rate with two touchdown passes and no interceptions.
