Matt Ryan is the NFL's first $100 million man.

The Atlanta Falcons quarterback became the league's highest-paid player Thursday by agreeing to a five-year contract extension that could be worth as much as $150 million.

A person familiar with the deal [url=http://www.broncoscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-brendan-langley-jersey]Brendan Langley Jersey[/url] , speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the terms were not released, confirmed that Ryan is assured of receiving at least $100 million. That surpasses the total compensation of the $84 million, three-year guaranteed deal that quarterback Kirk Cousins received from the Minnesota Vikings.

If Ryan receives the full terms of the contract, he would receive an average of $30 million a year, also more than Cousin's $28 million yearly payout.

Cousins' stunning deal set the target for Ryan's negotiations with the Falcons, though it might be a short stay at No. 1.

The Green Bay Packers are trying to complete a new deal with their franchise quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, who will likely be looking to surpass Ryan's figure.

That's of no concern to the Falcons, who took care of their major offseason priority by locking up Ryan once his current deal expires after the 2018 season. He'll make $19.25 million in the final year of that contract.

"This extension was our primary focus this offseason," general manager Thomas Dimitroff said in a statement. "Matt has been a pillar of stability for this franchise for a decade, and it is a great feeling knowing that he will remain at our helm for five more years."

Ryan was the third overall draft pick in 2008 and has been the Falcons' starting quarterback ever since. He has only missed two starts over the first decade of his career, passing for 41,796 yards with 260 touchdowns while begin voted to the Pro Bowl four times.

No quarterback has passed for more yards in the first 10 seasons of his career.

"It's hard to believe it's been 10 years already," said Ryan [url=http://www.coltscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-josh-ferguson-jersey]Josh Ferguson Jersey[/url] , who will turn 33 in a couple of weeks. "While we have accomplished a lot, our goal remains what it was the day I got drafted, and that's to bring a championship to our city and fans."

Ryan was the league MVP in 2016, guiding Atlanta to only the second Super Bowl appearance in franchise history. But the Falcons infamously squandered a 28-3 lead late in the third quarter, losing to the New England Patriots 34-28 in overtime.

This past season, the Falcons earned a wild-card berth and pulled off a first-round upset of the Rams in Los Angeles before falling to the eventual Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles in the divisional round.

The offense struggled at times under first-year coordinator Steve Sarkisian, though Ryan still managed to surpass 4,000 yards passing for the seventh year in a row. His touchdowns slipped significantly, however, going from a career-best 38 during his MVP season to just 20 鈥?the lowest total since he was a rookie.

With the contract talks out of the way, Ryan looks forward to spending the rest of his career with the Falcons. He will be 38 at the end of the contract.

"We know there is a lot of work to do, but being able to ensure I can end my career where I started it, is something that I am very fortunate to be able to do," he said.

With Ryan entered the league [url=http://www.coltscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-darius-leonard-jersey]Darius Leonard Jersey[/url] , the Falcons were coming off a 4-12 season and had lost star quarterback Michael Vick, who was sentenced to federal prison for running a dogfighting operation and never played another game for Atlanta.

Ryan restored stability to the franchise, starting from his very first game and leading the Falcons to the first of five straight winning seasons. Until that streak, they had never finished above .500 in back-to-back years.

The Falcons have a 95-63 record with Ryan as their starting QB, winning NFC South titles in 2010, 2012 and 2016. They have made six playoff appearances, reaching the NFC championship game during the 2012 season.

"Matt has proven to be a leader for this franchise on and off the field, and we are fortunate to have him as our quarterback," Dimitroff said. "Matt has guided us to a decade of success that is unmatched in franchise history, but we all know there is more to be accomplished, and we are confident we can get that done with Matt."

It's been a big year for Ryan, both personally and professionally.

His wife, Sarah, delivered twin boys shortly after the season ended.

Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at pnewberry1963 . His work can be found at s://apnews/search/paul%20newberry In the two-week run-up to the Super Bowl [url=http://www.texanscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-deandre-hopkins-jersey]DeAndre Hopkins Jersey[/url] , the New England Patriots will face plenty of questions about two things critical to the team’s success: Tom Brady’s right hand and Rob Gronkowski’s head.

Brady answered most of the concerns about whether the hand injury would hinder him with a strong performance in New England’s AFC championship game victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Gronkowski, meanwhile, will likely spend at least part of this week going through the concussion protocol. He suffered the injury on a helmet-to-helmet hit from Jacksonville safety Barry Church.

The game-changing tight end is Brady’s favorite target, and he missed last season’s Super Bowl run after undergoing season-ending back surgery.

There was no update from the Patriots on Gronk’s status Monday, but he was at the facility for team meetings.

”He was in pretty good spirits today when I spoke to him,” special teams captain Matt Slater said.

Recently, New England has fared well when Gronkowski has been sidelined. But that hasn’t always been the case.

The Patriots had plenty of time to adjust to his absence in 2016, when he played just eight games before the surgery. They also had Martellus Bennett to pick up the slack.

Since the start of last season, New England is 12-1 without Gronk. In those games, the Patriots’ points per game actually increased from 28.6 to 28.8, although their yards per play declined from 8.1 to 7.6.

The offense was also better without him on third down and in the red zone. Over the past two seasons it converted on 49.3 percent of its chances on third down and scored touchdowns on 66 percent of its red zone trips without him, compared to 45 percent on third down and scoring touchdowns on 62.6 percent of red zone trips when he played.

From his rookie season in 2010 through 2015, his absence had a much greater impact.

The Patriots were 12-7 without Gronkowski over that span, averaging 31.5 points per game with him and 26.3 without him. The offense’s average yards per pass attempt also fell from 7.8 with him to 6.6 without him.

Before he was injured [url=http://www.cowboyscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-jamize-olawale-jersey]Jamize Olawale Jersey[/url] , Gronkowski passed Dallas Clark to become the NFL’s career leader for postseason yards at the position. And if the concussion were to sideline him for the Super Bowl, there’s not much depth behind him. The only tight ends on New England’s roster are Dwayne Allen and Jacob Hollister.

Allen has 10 receptions for 86 yards and a touchdown this season. Hollister has four catches for 42 yards and was inactive against Jacksonville.

Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said there is always a plan to adapt to injuries.

”You have to make some adjustments. We always go into the game with a certain idea of how we want to try to play it,” he said. ”It certainly doesn’t always play out the way that you wanted it to or that you had hoped to or designed it to, but that happens in every game.

”So, everybody understands that that’s part of the game and when that happens, you just have to embrace whatever role you need to take on to help the team win.”

Brady still has stitches in his right thumb. He hopes to have them removed sometime this week, and he doesn’t expect the injury to be an issue once Super Bowl week arrives.

”And then I can just get out there and get normal treatment like I always do and be ready to go,” Brady said.

”This was a little injury at the end of the day. … I mean, I’ve had a lot worse injuries than this. If this was on my left hand, I could care less, but just based on where it was, we had to deal with it.”

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