Colts QB Matt Ryan: 'Pretty good chance' I'm still with Falcons if not for Deshaun Watson pursuit

Back in March, the Atlanta Falcons were repeatedly mentioned as top contenders to win the Deshaun Watson sweepstakes. Watson instead elected to waive his no-trade clause to join the Cleveland Browns, but the Falcons' pursuit of the controversial star signal-caller was all veteran Matt Ryan needed to realize his time in Atlanta had expired. 

The Falcons traded Ryan to the Indianapolis Colts during the first week of the new NFL year, and the one-time Most Valuable Player offered his side of the story about that transaction during the latest edition of "The Ryen Russillo Podcast." 

"When free agency starts to pick up and they start to look into what they want to do, I kind of got filled into the loop that they were going to look into Deshaun Watson," Ryan explained, according to Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. "And then at that point, I said, OK, I understand. But I also need to look into what I need to look into. And if this doesn’t go down, find out if this is probably still the best fit for me.

"And as that week went on and just kind of looked into, on my end, what might be the best possible landing spot, or what was best for myself and my family moving forward, as we did that research, to me, it became one spot. And you never know, though, in that situation whether or not that one spot is also going to feel the same way about you. And for me, fortunately, they did. And they have the belief in me and what I can bring to this team. So, from that standpoint, I think it worked out perfectly on my end." 

Some, including Russillo, can't help but wonder what might have been for Ryan and the Falcons had Atlanta not gone all-in on Watson this offseason. Would Ryan have stayed put for at least one more year? 

"There’s probably a chance — a pretty good chance," Ryan responded after Russillo asked him a similar question. "But it did, you know? So when it does, when the situations change and the circumstances change… You know, I had always thought, like everybody, when you’re drafted there, and you play there, this is where I’m going to play my entire career. For 14 years, every day I woke up, it was to try and help the Falcons win a championship. And that had been reciprocated on the other end for me. And so when that changed, I had to look into it." 

As for the Falcons, they hit the figurative reset button by signing former Tennessee Titans starter and Las Vegas Raiders backup Marcus Mariota and selecting Cincinnati quarterback Desmond Ridder in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft. 

Ryan, meanwhile, will try to lead the Colts back to the playoffs after that franchise moved on from Carson Wentz following a single season together.