The Falcons played with Matty Ice and got burned

Matt Ryan is a legend. He is the franchise's all-time leader in passing yards, passing touchdown, and Approximate Value. He led the team to one of their only two Super Bowl appearances and won the franchise's onlyMVP award. Ryan's best days were behind him and he would be in Atlanta for the rest of his career.

On March 21, it was announced that the Falcons had traded Ryan to the Colts for a measly third-round pick. It was a decision that could have been forgiven if the Falcons had acquired a new quarterback. They didn't.

Ryan wanted to stay in Atlanta, but the team's pursuit of former Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson made it easy for him to leave. Ryan spilled the beans on his tumultuous off-season on the latest episode.

“When free agency starts to pick up and they start to look into what they want to do, I kind of got filled into the loop that they were going to look into Deshaun Watson. And then at that point, I said, OK, I understand. But I also need to look into what I need to look into. And if this doesn’t go down, find out if this is probably still the best fit for me.

“And as that week went on and just kind of looked into, on my end, what might be the best possible landing spot, or what was best for myself and my family moving forward, as we did that research, to me, it became one spot. And you never know, though, in that situation whether or not that one spot is also going to feel the same way about you. And for me, fortunately, they did. And they have the belief in me and what I can bring to this team. So, from that standpoint, I think it worked out perfectly on my end.”

The team probably came very close to landing Watson. Over a month ago, he posted a picture of all of his new jerseys. There was a folded up Falcons jersey in the background. The jersey was pointed out, but not before it was obvious that it was aWatson Atlanta jersey. Ryan was already out of town, regardless of whether or not the Falcons secured Watson. Ryan was convinced that there was no future for him as the quarterback for Atlanta after Atlanta pursued him aggressively.

Ryan said there was a chance he would stay in Atlanta if the Falcons hadn't gone after him. You know, but it did happen? When the situation changes and the circumstances change, I always thought this was where I would play my entire career. I woke up every day to try and help the Falcons win a championship. That was reciprocated on the other end. When that changed, I had to look into it.