Colts ‘super excited’ to have Matt Ryan

But a third-round draft pick on March 21 landed Ryan, the 2016 NFL MVP who has 33 fourth-quarter comebacks and 42 game-winning drives in his career. The Colts assumed the final two years of Ryan’s contract, but the bonus money that was already paid by the Falcons accelerated into a $40.5 million salary cap hit in 2022.

“One of the quote, unquote stats that jumps out about Matt is how many fourth-quarter winning drives that he’s led,” Reich said. “One of the other stats that jumps out to me about Matt is his completion percentage over so many years. It’s just so consistent.”

Ryan had his most success with the Falcons when he had a powerful rushing attack. Michael Turner and Jerious Norwood combined to rush for more than 2,000 yards in his rookie season of 2008 and Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman rushed for 1,599 yards in the MVP and Super Bowl season of 2016.

The Colts have running back Jonathan Taylor, who led the league with 1,811 yards rushing last season.

“I think he’s a really great fit for the offense and for our team,” Reich said.

After the Falcons failed to land Deshaun Watson on March 18, Ryan was allowed to have a virtual meeting with the Colts the next day.

“Atlanta gave us permission to have that,” Reich said. “It was apparent very quickly that there was an instant connection in every way. Personally, but also football (wise). The way we think about the game.”

The Colts tried to show Ryan how he’d fit into their offense.

“I had cut-ups made of a lot of our offensive plays,” Reich said. “Just kind of walking through some of your plays, talking offensive football. Just wanting Matt to envision himself in our offense and some of the things that we could do.”

The Colts are the beneficiary of the Falcons missing out on Watson, after Cleveland decided to fully guarantee his $230 million contract.

With Ryan, the Colts are hoping to return to the AFC playoffs after missing them last season. They were 11-5 in 2020 with Rivers at quarterback and went to the playoffs.

“He’s shown the ability to carry a team in those moments when you need a team to carry them,” Reich said. “He has shown that time and time again.”

Ryan was an immediate success with the Falcons, going to the playoffs as a rookie. He pulled out his sixth NFL game in the final 11 seconds to help solidify his nickname of “Matty Ice.”

But after some poor drafting and shaky free-agent signings, the team has fallen on hard times. The Falcons have missed the playoffs in each of the past four seasons and are currently rebuilding.

After Rivers decided to retire, Reich encouraged the Colts to trade for Wentz, whom he’d worked with in Philadelphia. After last season, the Colts traded him to Washington.

“Once that trade was made, we knew what the landscape was,” Reich said. “So we’ve got to be able to … we knew what the options were. We didn’t know everything that is going to happen.”

When the Colts traded Wentz, Ryan was not available. Reich insists that the Colts won by staying patient.

“We didn’t want to have seller’s remorse,” Reich said. “I think we’d determined that wasn’t going to happen. It was well thought out. It was not a quick decision. This is what we thought was the right move for the team.”

Ryan elected to pursue his outside interests after the Falcons failed to get Watson.

“We were very happy that Matt became available,” Reich said. “That’s a credit to (Colts general manager) Chris (Ballard) and his leadership. We were poised. We weren’t going to panic. We were committed to making one of those options work.”

So, it was a gamble in trading Wentz.

“Sometimes you just have to make a move that you think is right,” Reich said.

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