Matt Ryan as Falcons President of Football Proving to be 'Invaluable'

New Atlanta Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski had high praise for Matt Ryan, the Falcons' new president of football operations, during media availability at the Falcons’ OTAs earlier this week.

“Matt has done a terrific job, just in terms of helping a bunch of different departments,” Stefanski said. “I think in Matt’s role, it’s unique where he can assist the coaches, he can assist the players, and he can certainly assist the front office.”

Ryan may be new to the job, but he's certainly not new to the franchise and Atlanta.

"I just think he has that unique perspective," Stefanski continued. "He's been here as a player. He's had great success in this organization. He's just been a tremendous resource, certainly for me, certainly for our coaches, but I think you see him touching all aspects of this building.

"Just having somebody that, the institutional knowledge of our building, of our city, of our organization. Somebody that knows all of the things that have gone on here and things that are important, and the values that are important to Arthur and this organization.

"I think that certainly is invaluable."

The "New" Role

Ryan was hired by the Falcons in January to become the Falcons' first president of football operations. A role that was created after the consulting firm Sportology group performed an analysis of the organization and deemed the position necessary in order to provide clarity for the entire organization.

While the role may be new in title, it's not a coincidence that former Falcons CEO Rich McKay was moved off the Falcons in lockstep with the firings of general manager Terry Fontenot and head coach Raheem Morris.

“It was a little bit surprising the lack of clarity about the vision for the team," Falcons owner Arthur Blank said of the report's findings. "In any business, any industry, when you don't have clarity around vision and about what you are trying to establish and trying to build, you're going to end up with a lot of disparaged parts."

Building this clarity started with picking the people who were going to be in the building. Ryan’s first task in his new role was selecting a new head coach for the team, which ultimately led to the Falcons hiring Stefanski.

Ryan’s goal since then has been to get everyone on the same page, a page he has been on since he was drafted by Atlanta in 2008.

“To the Falcons fans, my mission since I was drafted has never changed. It is to help this organization do everything it can to be champions and to win championships.”

To reach this goal, the new regime has taken a long-term approach to building the roster despite only missing the playoffs due to tiebreakers last season. They made no big splashes in free agency and instead focused on building depth and promoting competition for spots within the team.

This approach has the Falcons set to be the team with the second most cap space in next year's offseason. This is important for a team with a question mark at the most important position, quarterback, and plenty of talented skill positions in need of extensions in the near future.

One of those extensions has already been made when the Falcons signed star wide receiver Drake London to a four-year, $141 million extension. With a looming Bijan Robinson extension that will likely make him the highest-paid running back in the league, and Kyle Pitts on a one-year franchise tag, this cap space will be vital for future moves.

Despite having zero experience in a front office role, Ryan is already impressing just six months into his role with the Falcons. He acknowledges his lack of experience, but says he learned a ton from a lot of smart people during his career as a player.

Ryan played 15 seasons in the NFL, with all but one of those years being in Atlanta. During those years, Ryan was a league MVP, a 4-time Pro Bowler, and finished top-10 in career passing yards. However, he failed to bring the Lombardi trophy to Atlanta, a regret he now hopes to make up for in his new role.

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