AP source: Colts get QB Matt Ryan in trade with Falcons

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indianapolis Colts may have found another short-term answer at quarterback by trading for Matt Ryan.

How much longer the soon-to-be 37-year-old, four-time Pro Bowler sticks around isn’t clear.

On Monday, Indy acquired the 2016 league MVP from Atlanta for a third-round pick in this year’s draft (No. 82 overall,) a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press on condtion of anonymity because the trade had not been announced.

The Falcons wasted no time finding Ryan’s replacement — announcing they’d signed free agent Marcus Mariota to a two-year contract.

For Indy, the deal completes a two-week search for a successor to Carson Wentz, who was traded to the Washington Commanders after just one season with the Colts. For Colts general manager Chris Ballard, it's also the latest attempt to plug a hole created by Andrew Luck’s surprise retirement at age 29 just before the start of the 2018 season.

Ryan will become the sixth quarterback to start in Week 1 for the Colts in six years, adding his name to a list that already is comprised of Scott Tolzien, Luck, Jacoby Brissett, Philip Rivers and Wentz. He joins a franchise whose vice chairman Bill Polian once said he considered Ryan the most similar player in the league to Peyton Manning.

“You’ve got to be right (at quarterback) and even if you’re not right, you’ve got to keep firing away until you get it right," Ballard said during the NFL's annual scouting combine. "We’ve got to get it right.”

The deal also makes something else clear: The Falcons are entering rebuild mode.

Shortly after the Falcons made a highly publicized but failed bid to acquire Houston quarterback Deshaun Watson last week, it became clear Ryan did not want to return to a team where he had played his entire NFL career...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/AP-source-Colts-get-QB-Matt-Ryan-in-trade-with-17018412.php