Average annual salary: $30 million
Ryan has looked every bit of his 37 years in seven games this season. Frank Reich’s acknowledgment Monday that the Colts would have replaced him with Sam Ehlinger regardless of Ryan’s Grade 2 shoulder separation speaks volumes. For too long, Indy has tried to solve the problem of replacing Andrew Luck by throwing money at quarterbacks. Case in point: Whatever happens with Ryan going forward, his contract runs through next season, carrying a dead-money hit of $18 million in 2023. I think this is the end of the road for that approach — or at least, it should be.
“Our poor production on offense is not on one person — it’s not on Matt Ryan — but we also know, as Matt and I talked it through, as head coach and quarterback. As head coach, ultimately it doesn’t matter, I’m judged on wins and losses,” Reich said Monday. “Quarterback’s judged on points and production and turnovers. We understand that’s how it is in this league.”
Even at his age, Ryan still should be able to move efficiently enough in the pocket, make good decisions and protect the football. I haven’t seen enough of any of those things this season. He’s completed 68.4 percent of his passes for 2,008 yards with nine touchdowns and nine picks, but it’s the turnovers that have really prevented the Colts from closing out games and even being competitive in some cases. In Sunday’s loss alone, Ryan threw a pair of picks, including a game-altering pick-six that led to the Titans sweeping the Colts for the second straight season.
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