ATLANTA – Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank said the team must have a succession plan at quarterback even while Matt Ryan appears set to continue as the starter in 2022.
The Falcons face more complicated decisions at wide receiver, where Calvin Ridley’s status remains uncertain.
Blank, in Los Angeles for Sunday’s Super Bowl between the Cincinnati Bengals and the L.A. Rams, said the Falcons still have not had direct conversations with Ridley since the former first-round draft pick missed the final 11 games last season while addressing his mental health.
“It’s a matter of HIPAA regulations in terms to what we have access to or should have access to,” Blank said Wednesday night. “We’re here to support Calvin as he goes through this journey he’s on, and it’s a difficult journey.”
In the wake of seven-time Pro Bowl receiver Julio Jones being traded to the Tennessee Titans last summer, Ridley was considered Ryan’s top target entering the 2021 season. That changed after Ridley was a last-minute scratch before a home game against the Carolina Panthers on Oct. 31.
On that day, Ridley posted on his Twitter account that he needed to “step away from football at this time and focus on my mental wellbeing.” That remains Ridley’s last tweet on his account.
“As an organization we’ve done the best job we could just to support Calvin and do everything we can for him,” general manager Terry Fontenot said after the season.
The former University of Alabama star has NFL career totals of 248 receptions for 3,342 yards (13.5 per catch) and 28 touchdowns in 49 games since being drafted 26th overall by Atlanta in 2018. Ridley had career bests of 90 catches and 1,374 yards in 2020, with his nine touchdown catches one shy of the high he set as a rookie.
The Falcons can only hope Ridley, who also did not make the trip to London for the Falcons’ game against the New York Jets on Oct. 10, returns next season.
“Yeah, sure, absolutely,” Blank said. “I mean, who wouldn’t want him? He’s a great player. He’s a great teammate. He and Matt had a wonderful chemistry and played well together. He’s able to succeed at a very high level. And he’s always practiced hard and played hard.”
The Falcons must make plans for the NFL draft, which is April 28-30 in Las Vegas, and free agency, which opens in mid-March. They will need to know if they can plan for Ridley.
“Where that sits with him, I don’t know,” Blank said. “We haven’t talked to him directly. At some point … we have to have a clear understanding about that. I think he and his agents certainly understand that as well.”
The Falcons finished 7-10 with first-year coach Arthur Smith this season, the team’s fourth consecutive losing record.
Ryan completed 67% of his passes, topping three of his previous four seasons, and threw for 3,968 yards, barely missing his 11th consecutive 4,000-yard season. He turns 37 in May and has said he hopes to still be playing at 40. His potential $48.7 million cap hit in 2022 helps to secure his immediate future in Atlanta, and after the season he emphasized he wants to remain with the Falcons.
Blank likes Ryan’s production and durability but said the team must plan for an eventual successor as the quarterback enters his 15th season.
“I think he is is still performing at a very high level and is very capable of winning in this league,” Blank said. “He’s in great shape and he thinks he can play on for some number of years, which is wonderful.
“I’ll make this clear: At some point we do need to understand that Father Time will get us all, and at some point we’ll have to make a clear succession plan for the next quarterback. Teams that have done that successfully are in a really good position in the league. The ones that haven’t are ones that struggle for a number of years and slip in and out of different quarterbacks.”