Two years ago, Matt Ryan thought he'd been cast aside. The Falcons pursued Deshaun Watson—aggressively, publicly, embarrassingly—and traded their franchise quarterback to Indianapolis like he was an expiring contract nobody wanted. Ryan later admitted he believed he would have finished his career in Atlanta if not for that Watson chase.
Now he's coming back. Not as a player, but as the most powerful person in the building.
The new power structure
Owner Arthur Blank announced Monday that the Falcons are creating a "President of Football" position. According to ESPN and NFL Network, Ryan is the expected hire. The new role will oversee both the head coach and general manager—meaning whoever fills those vacancies will answer directly to a quarterback who retired less than two years ago.
This is not a ceremonial position. This is control.
"The leader in this new role will set the vision and identity for our team," Blank said in a letter to fans. "Our new head coach and general manager will report to the new president of football, and they will work collaboratively as a football leadership team on all football decisions. Final decision-making authority will rest with the president of football."
Read that again. Final decision-making authority. Matt Ryan, who was playing football 18 months ago, will have final say on personnel, coaching hires, and organizational direction. That's a staggering amount of trust in someone with zero front-office experience.
The context matters
The Falcons are a mess. They haven't made the playoffs since 2017—eight consecutive losing seasons. Terry Fontenot spent five years as general manager without a single postseason appearance. Raheem Morris went 16-18 in two seasons. The Kirk Cousins signing was a $180 million disaster. The Michael Penix Jr. draft pick made sense on paper but now looks like a question mark after the rookie missed half of 2025 with injuries.
Blank wants a reset. A complete reimagining of how the franchise operates. And he apparently believes the man who quarterbacked his team to a Super Bowl (even if that Super Bowl ended in historic collapse) is the right person to lead it.
Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reported that Ryan has already done "homework" on head coach and general manager candidates. He's not waiting to be hired—he's already preparing. The Falcons must comply with the Rooney Rule before making the president of football position official, but the search for Morris and Fontenot's replacements won't begin until Ryan is formally in place.
Can this actually work?
Former players transitioning to front offices is nothing new. John Elway did it in Denver. John Lynch did it in San Francisco. Both had mixed results—Elway's tenure ended with declining returns after early success, while Lynch has built something sustainable with Kyle Shanahan.
But neither had this much authority this quickly. Ryan, 40, has been out of football entirely since retiring in April 2024. He signed a one-day contract with Atlanta that same month to officially retire as a Falcon, and was inducted into the team's Ring of Honor later that year. The relationship clearly healed. Now it's being tested in an entirely different way.
The Falcons are betting that Ryan's football intelligence translates to organizational leadership. That the same mind that read defenses and audible at the line can evaluate coaching candidates and roster construction. It's a leap—but then again, everything about this offseason in Atlanta is a leap.
What it says about the franchise
Blank is 82 years old. He's watched his franchise spiral for nearly a decade. He's tired of incremental changes that lead nowhere. This restructuring—new president, new GM, new coach, new everything—is either the beginning of something coherent or the kind of organizational upheaval that sets franchises back years.
Ryan will be the face of it either way. The man who once threw for 4,944 yards in an MVP season, who led one of the most devastating offensive attacks in NFL history, who watched a 28-3 Super Bowl lead evaporate in real time—he's now responsible for making sure that kind of heartbreak doesn't define Atlanta forever.
It's a hell of a story. Whether it's a good one depends entirely on what happens next.