With the Indianapolis Colts moving on from Matt Ryan, it’s believed that Matt Ryan’s next destination could be with one of his former coaches.
After one season, the Indianapolis Colts are preparing to move on from Matt Ryan. That has become the norm in Indianapolis. The team acquires a veteran quarterback, then he’s gone the next offseason. Things were supposed to be different with Matt Ryan, but his first season with the Colts resulted in the team going 4-12-1 and Ryan being benched twice. Now Indy is in the position to select a quarterback at the top of the draft and move on from Ryan.
Could Indianapolis keep Ryan on the roster as a possible bridge quarterback or veteran backup presence for a rookie? Possibly, but it seems really unlikely. Ryan’s $35 million cap hit is too much for Indy to just keep him around to stand on the sidelines. Chances are Ryan will be released in the coming weeks and he’ll be able to find his next team in free agency.
There’s some speculation that Ryan’s next destination could be a reunion with a former coach. The former coach at the root of this speculation is Kyle Shanahan, the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. Grant Cohn, in a recent piece for Sports Illustrated, made the case for Shanahan and the 49ers signing Matt Ryan.
Will the San Francisco 49ers sign Matt Ryan?
Cohn explains that San Francisco will be in the market for a veteran quarterback to serve as a backup and Shanahan will likely go after a former starter and be really excited to sign someone that has familiarity with him and his system. Since Shanahan was Ryan’s offensive coordinator for two seasons with the Atlanta Falcons, all of this makes Matt Ryan the perfect candidate to end up with the San Francisco 49ers this offseason.
However, the question then becomes: does Ryan want to sign with the San Francisco 49ers? Despite just having the worst season of his career, Ryan still believes he has a lot in the tank, and could prove that in the right circumstances. That means he probably wants to go to a team where he has a chance to start. In San Francisco, they already have Trey Lance and Brock Purdy; that’s enough of a quarterback controversy in itself.
But, the 49ers haven’t been able to keep quarterbacks healthy, so that’s probably why they’d want a reliable QB3. If San Francisco had a season at quarterback like they did this past year with multiple guys going down with serious injuries, Ryan would get a chance to start. But does he really want to sign up to go somewhere where he has to be waiting on multiple guys to get hurt? Probably not.
A reunion with Kyle Shanahan would be nice but the San Francisco 49ers probably can’t provide Matt Ryan with the opportunity he’s looking for.
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