The Indianapolis Colts are reportedly planning to release Matt Ryan after one year NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. The move comes after he was benched with Sam Ehlinger and later Nick Foles during the season.
He leaves the team with a 4-12 record in his starts. He scored 14 touchdowns, 13 interceptions, and 15 career fumbles in a pass completion rate of 67%. Rayyan He will still receive $12 million of the Colts, a guarantee that was not present in his previous contract.
Now the 37-year-old will have the option to explore free agency or not. “I’ll have to see how it turns out but I still love playing and honestly I still feel like there’s a lot of good football in my body,” Ryan told the Indianapolis Star in January, when asked about his future.
When Ryan was named Sam Ellinger’s bench for Week 8, he was honest with reporters who asked about his feelings, adding that he would “accept and embrace” his backup role.
“I was disappointed individually and personally,” Ryan said. “As a player, as a competitor, you want to be there. You want to go. It’s part of the deal in this league. You have to produce and you have to go there and play. Frustrating because we couldn’t do that in the first seven games. But you move on. Life’s in.” This league is week by week and the production has to be there. Obviously, frustrating personally but here for the team.”
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He was drafted in 2008 and spent the next 14 seasons with the Atlanta Falcons where he went without missing a start in all but two seasons. Then, the Falcons traded the longtime franchise cornerstone to the Colts for a 2022 third-round pick before signing Marcus Mariota from the Las Vegas Raiders.
Moving on from Ryan, the Colts struggled $18 million in dead money and $17 million savings in salary cap space. On Tuesday, the Colts also reportedly agreed to trade Pro Bowl cornerback Stephon Gilmore to the Dallas Cowboys for a compensatory fifth-round pick for the 2023 NFL Draft, according to NFL Network’s Tom Bellisero.
Both moves combined have saved the Colts $27.1 million toward the 2023 salary cap. The team has the fourth overall pick in next month’s NFL Draft.
