On Monday morning, CBS Sports announced that it had added quarterback Matt Ryan to its rotation of studio and live game analysts for the NFL on CBS. While the details of his schedule are not yet known, it has been confirmed that he will be providing analysis for The NFL Today, NFL Monday QB, That Other Pregame Show and CBS Sports HQ, along with commentating on games.
In Atlanta, 92.9 The Game morning host Steak Shapiro revealed that he had recently conversed with Ryan and was not surprised by his move to sports media, although Ryan made it clear that he is not retiring from playing football.
“It was kind of like, ‘I’m [37] years old, man. I need to work,’” Shapiro recalled Ryan stating. “What he was saying – he wasn’t talking about playing quarterback. He was talking about, ‘I need a regular gig.’”
“Because he’s got those three kids and he’s got to get out of the house,” joked co-host Sandra Golden.
The idea that Ryan isn’t done on the field was somewhat questionable to those on The Steakhouse, including on-air personality Drew Butler.
“Maybe he’s waiting for a phone call from Arthur [Blank] to say, ‘Hey, if you want to retire a Falcon, we can make that happen,’” he suggested.
Shapiro believes signing one-day contracts to retire with a specific NFL team is foolish since players are never remembered in that way. Instead, he stated that Ryan, if he eventually does announce his retirement, he will be known for ending his career with the Indianapolis Colts rather than as a member of the Falcons. The same applies for Tom Brady who is signing a one-day contract to retire as a New England Patriots player and expects to begin broadcasting NFL games with FOX Sports at the start of the 2024 regular season.
Ryan’s level of interest in returning to the playing field is relatively unknown as sports fans wait and see if his next contract will be for one year or one day. Nonetheless, he is one of the most accomplished players in the history of the Atlanta Falcons, holding franchise records for passing yards and touchdowns. He also helped lead the team to a Super Bowl LI appearance and won the 2016 NFL MVP award.
“Translation: If QB1 goes down; if QB2 goes down, I’m here; I’m available guys,” Golden surmised Ryan thinking.”
