3 Players the Falcons Have Already Lost Out on Thanks to Huge Matt Ryan Extension

The NFL is a quarterback-driven league, so while it's great to draft a young signal-caller and build team around him before that rookie contract runs out, it's hard to resist paying big money on an extension to keep a quality QB around for the long haul. That's what the Atlanta Falcons did, as they signed Matt Ryan to a five-year, $150 million deal.

Locking in Ryan made sense, as former MVPs don't grow on trees. That big contract did, however, prevent Dan Quinn's team from having the chance to re-sign every last one of its top players. Let's identify three whose long-term Atlanta futures could be in danger.

1. Julio Jones

Hypothetically, the biggest victim of the Matt Ryan contract extension was Julio Jones. The top-tier wide receiver had a brief holdout last offseason, but returned after a contract revision and a promise of a new deal. However, given the massive contracts that Odell Beckham Jr., Mike Evans, and Antonio Brown received, Jones is sure to seek an utterly massive sum of money. This could spell doom for the Falcons' chances to keep him.

2. Grady Jarrett

The Falcons couldn't reach a new agreement with Grady Jarrett, opting instead to place the franchise tag on the defensive tackle, which will pay him over $15 million for this upcoming season. Subsequent negotiations could be nasty considering the value of the tackle position set by Aaron Donald's $135 million deal. If Jarrett wants anything close to that, Atlanta could be out of the running.

3. Vic Beasley

The Falcons' 2015 first-round pick is set to hit the open market following the upcoming season. When you look at the defensive end position, capable operators are getting richer and richer, as evidenced by DeMarcus Lawrence's $105 million contract with the Dallas Cowboys. While Vic Beasley has been on a bit of a downward trend in the past two years, he will certainly command a lot of attention from teams in need of an edge guy, potentially to the Falcons' detriment.