The Falcons Trade Matt Ryan to the Colts for a Third Round Pick

After spending the first 14 seasons of his career in Atlanta, Matt Ryan has been traded from the Falcons to the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for a 2022 third round pick.

My instant reaction is that this is just sad, regardless of how seemingly inevitable it may have been. Ryan has been the Falcons' quarterback since I was 11 years old and took over at a time when, as you may remember, the franchise was going through a bit of turmoil at the quarterback position. All he did was have one of the most impressive decade-plus starts to a career of any quarterback to ever play the game, led Atlanta to two NFC Championship Games and a Super Bowl for which he'd have a ring if he had a coach and/or a defense worth a damn.

My next thought was, "Who the hell is going to play quarterback in Atlanta in 2022?" to which the seeming answer as of now is ... Marcus Mariota?!

That has to be as a backup option. If the Atlanta Falcons roll into this season with the dynamic duo of Mariota and Josh Rosen under center, that may be the final straw I need to check out on this franchise forever. Bring me Malik Willis.

And as far as the third round pick goes, whatever. Every pick in the NFL Draft is valuable, but that's a steal for the Colts if Ryan is anything near the top of his game, even entering his age-37 season.

It sucks that this is the ending for Ryan in Atlanta. He will still probably be remembered as the best quarterback in franchise history, but he deserved a Super Bowl and in the one year everything finally aligned for that to happen, it all came crashing down. I was hopeful he'd be able to redeem that moment at some point, it just never came to fruition.

I hope Ryan does well with the Colts and finally wins a championship. He was nothing but a consummate professional in Atlanta and put up Hall of Fame-worthy numbers. He deserves a title before he's done.

Now go draft the next guy.