Colts finally get it right with Matt Ryan trade

The Indianapolis Colts have traded a third-round pick to acquire quarterback Matt Ryan from the Atlanta Falcons, ending a four-year drought of good quarterbacks on the roster who can also stay for longer than a year.

The greatest thing about this Matt Ryan trade isn’t about the price to acquire his services – only a third-round pick for a starting quarterback in the NFL is waaaay too cheap. It also isn’t about his salary, whose major dead cap will stay with the Falcons and the Colts will pay him less than $30 million in the remaining two years of his contract.

For the Colts, the greatest thing about the Matt Ryan trade is that they can finally lay their head to rest knowing that their quarterback situation is sorted beyond this year.

Chris Ballard got the right opportunity

Everyone in NFL circles knew that the Colts wanted to get rid of Carson Wentz, and they got the perfect offer from the Commanders to load him off. But they still needed a quarterback, and most pieces of the domino were falling out of their way, especially because they couldn’t pull off a competitive offer as they were without the 2022 first-round pick because of Wentz.

Russell Wilson went to the Denver Broncos. Deshaun Watson went to the Broncos. The Packers were never going to trade Aaron Rodgers anyway. Jimmy Garoppolo has a shoulder injury. Baker Mayfield is, well, Baker Mayfield. Ballard managed to clean up his own mess with Wentz, but he still had to find the answer to his own problem.

Enter Matt Ryan. The Falcons made it clear to the quarterback that they were going after Deshaun Watson and that his time with the franchise was over. Ballard saw the opportunity to grab one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL and went for it, even though he’s not in his prime anymore. The Colts needed an answer, and they got a damn good one.

Chris Ballard has his flaws, but he’s a good general manager nonetheless. Now, his work might get even more exposure