This deal is exactly why there needs to be a cap on rookie contracts. Ryan has yet to play a down and has received almost a $35M bonus. What makes this even worse is that Ryan will have to fight for the starting job. In effect, the Falcons may have given $35M bonus to someone who won’t even start.

This will obviously affect the rest of the top 10 picks in the draft.

The difference here, obviously, is that the Falcons got six years out of Ryan while Miami signed Long for only five, so the bonus logically might have been higher. But $34.75 million is approximately $11 million more than last year’s third pick, Cleveland tackle Joe Thomas, got in guarantees. So this is a big win for Ryan and for the agents who don’t want to see teams sign first-round picks for less money than a year ago.

This may be why the NFL owners dissolved the current labor agreement. 

crossposted