The One Contract Holding Back the Atlanta Falcons

2020 is a do-or-die year for Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Quinn and general manager Thomas Dimitroff. Well, 2019 was supposed to be, but...here we are.

A second-half surge last season helped the duo save their jobs for one more year, but they have the difficult task of trying to clinch a playoff spot out of an NFC South division that drastically improved.

After the NFL Draft, the Falcons have next to no cap space available, and plenty of that has to do with the massive contract given to quarterback Matt Ryan in 2018.

Ryan solidified himself as one of the league's best quarterbacks during the 2016 season, where he won the league MVP award. As a result, the Falcons rewarded their franchise signal caller with a five-year, $150 million deal in 2018. At the time, it looked like a smart signing for the Falcons, but Ryan has never been able to replicate his tremendous MVP-winning campaign.

2018 was a bit of a bounce back season for Ryan, but he declined this past season, where he threw for 4,466 yards, 26 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions. That's not worth a $30 million annual salary. While Ryan did restructure his contract for the upcoming season, he carries an absurd and unheard-of $75 million in dead money...at the age of 35!

The Falcons are on the cusp of a rebuild if they don't find a way to win against better teams in the division like the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. If Quinn and Dimitroff are shown the door, the new regime can do next to nothing to improve the roster due to being stuck with Ryan's albatross of a deal.

Matt Ryan is going to be one expensive backup in the near future. It's sad, but it's very close to becoming a reality.