While it remains a mystery what the Falcons will do with the No. 4 overall pick in the upcoming draft, the consensus among NFL analysts is that the team should select a quarterback.
The latest culprit is NFL Network writer Nick Shook, who gave his thoughts on what the Falcons should do in a feature examining every team’s quarterback situation. According to Shook, the time to draft Matt Ryan’s replacement is now.
“Atlanta is in a bit of a holding pattern at the moment with Matt Ryan, who has demonstrated he’s still more than capable of carrying the mantle as the Falcons’ franchise quarterback. But we’re entering the territory in which the organization needs to start thinking about life after Ryan. The Falcons very well could spend the No. 4 overall pick in the draft on a promising young quarterback — our own Chad Reuter and Daniel Jeremiah have them taking Ohio State’s Justin Fields – which Ryan acknowledges as a real possibility. If anyone knows the score, it’s a 13-year veteran in his mid-30s.”
The problem here is that Atlanta has no way to get out of Ryan’s contract for at least another year. Shook explained what moving the former MVP QB would do to the team’s already dire salary cap situation.
“Atlanta can get out of Ryan’s contract in 2022 by stomaching a $26.5 million dead-cap hit, while waiting for Ryan’s age-38 season in 2023 would drop that number to $8.6 million. So, what should the Falcons do? Draft his successor, sit him behind Ryan and make a decision a year or two from now. The time to plan ahead is now.”
Shook’s opinion is fairly common among analysts. Not everyone agrees, though. Earlier this week, one of Shook’s NFL Network colleagues, former NFL head coach Brian Billick, proclaimed the Falcons would be making a “huge mistake” by drafting a quarterback that early in the draft.
Billick believes the Falcons could use their draft capital to fill out the roster elsewhere and build around Ryan, who is still playing at a high level.
“Matt Ryan is a heck of a football player. He had over 4,500 yards, 65 percent, 26 touchdowns, 11 interceptions on a bad, bad football team. If you extend the fourth pick to a quarterback, starting that clock on Matt Ryan, I think it’s a huge mistake.”
The last time the team had a top-five selection was in the 2008 NFL draft when Atlanta selected Ryan with the third-overall pick.
