Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff has started negotiations with Matt Ryan’s agent, Tom Condon, he said on Wednesday at the NFL scouting combine.
Ryan is in line for a contract extension that could average $30 million a year.
“The initial talks were positive, of course,” Dimitroff said. “We both know where Matt needs to be (financially). He needs to be here and he wants to be here and as I said, I don’t think it’s a complicated situation. It’s a deal that’s significant. We are just going to have to be mindful of not stressing too much about the timing of it. Our job is to get it done, obviously soon. I can see it getting done in the relatively near future. But I’m not stressing if it’s delayed.”
The five-year $137.5 million deal that unproven Jimmy Garoppolo recently signed with the 49ers has changed the market for quarterbacks.
Garoppolo’s deal averages $27.5 million per year.
The Packers’ Aaron Rodgers and the Redskins’ Kirk Cousins are also in line for lucrative contracts this offseason.
