How Does Carson Wentz Trade Affect Falcons? Is Matt Ryan Next?

The quarterback carousel has been incredibly busy in the week leading up to the start of free agency.

Carson Wentz

Matt Ryan vs. Buffalo Bills

Matt Ryan at press conference

On Tuesday, Aaron Rodgers committed to the Green Bay Packers and the Denver Broncos shook the league by trading for Russell Wilson.

As a result of striking out on Wilson, the Washington Commanders made their move, trading for Carson Wentz.

Now, the options are dwindling for quarterback-needy teams. By moving on from Wentz, the Indianapolis Colts are expected to make a run at Jimmy Garoppolo, who is expected to be traded by the San Francisco 49ers this offseason. But there's also interest from Garoppolo from a few other teams, including the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Some teams in need of veteran quarterbacks to stay in contention are going to fall short, simply because there are more teams than targets.

Other teams will either have to bank on the draft or rattle another team not currently in the quarterback carousel to cough someone up ... like the Atlanta Falcons.

The Falcons aren't likely to trade Ryan before June 1 given his $40 million cap hit. But after June 1, the cap hit drops to just over $24 million and the team saves $23.75 million, making it only a $1.2 million loss.

Malik Willis

Kenny Pickett

That means that the Falcons could draft a quarterback in April like Kenny Pickett, trade Ryan in the summer and move forward with the rookie.

It's a risk to wait until the end of free agency and the draft to look into trading Ryan, but if a team is desperate enough to bite, the Falcons can feed a hungry mouth.