Tony Gonzalez’s Assessment of Matt Ryan Is Spot-On: He’s Not Elite, Yet

February 8, 2014   ·   Knox Bardeen   ·   Jump to comments

With a $103.75 million contract, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan gets paid like an elite quarterback. Listen to sports talk radio, watch the sports shows on TV or join a conversation anywhere people talk sports, however, and few believe he is elite—a sentiment echoed by tight end Tony Gonzalez.
“Matt’s an excellent quarterback,” Gonzalez said, as reported by Seth Wickersham in ESPN The Magazine. “But he’s not elite. He’s this close. He’ll get there, but he has some learning to do.”
If a player’s bank statement was the best indicator of rank, Ryan would easily be included among the elite. His five-year deal is the seventh richest contract in the NFL and the fifth among quarterbacks, according to Spotrac. But elite as a measure of wealth is a country club ideal—that mentality doesn’t work in the NFL.
In football a quarterback gets labeled elite because of touchdown passes, wins (typically playoff...

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