The Atlanta Falcons need a succession plan for 36 year old quarterback Matt Ryan, according to team owner Arthur Blank.
Blank says the team has been thinking about eventually replacing Matt Ryan since last year. However, there’s no sign of Matt Ryan slowing down just yet.
He has been sacked 40 plus times in each of the past four seasons. In spite of this, Ryan has only missed one game since the start of the 2010 season.
This season, he had 67% passing for 3,968 yards, 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. With Josh Rosen, A.J. McCarron and Feleipe Franks in reserve, the drop off would be significant if Ryan got hurt.
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“But at some point, let’s make this clear,” said Blank.
“At some point, we do need to understand that Father Time does get us all and at some point we have to make a clear succession plan for the next quarterback. Teams in the league that have done that successfully really are in a good position. The ones that haven’t are the ones that struggle for a number of years as they flip in and out of quarterbacks that are not really the ultimate answer.”
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“We have to be thoughtful about that. And Matt understands that. Matt’s a grown man. He’s smart,” Blank said. “He understands that he can’t play forever and that we have a responsibility to our fans, to the franchise, to have a succession plan for every position, it’s not just quarterback.”
