Marcus Mariota, Falcons Agree to 2-Year Contract After Matt Ryan Trade
Mike Chiari@@mikechiari
Featured Columnist IVMarch 21, 2022
The Atlanta Falcons announced they agreed to a two-year contract with free-agent quarterback Marcus Mariota on Monday.
Mariota's deal will be worth $18.75 million, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.
This comes after NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo reported the Falcons traded Matt Ryan to the Indianapolis Colts for a 2022 third-round draft pick on the same day.
The 28-year-old Mariota spent the past two seasons with the Las Vegas Raiders, serving as the backup to starting quarterback Derek Carr.
Mariota is best known for his highly productive collegiate career at Oregon, which yielded a Heisman Trophy and led to him being the No. 2 overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft by the Tennessee Titans.
Up-and-down performances plagued Mariota during his five seasons in Tennessee, as he went 29-32 as a starter and completed 62.9 percent of his passes for 13,207 yards, 76 touchdowns and 44 interceptions while also rushing for 1,399 yards and 11 scores.
Mariota led the Titans to the playoffs in 2017 and even won a postseason game. But when Tennessee returned to the playoffs two years later, Ryan Tannehill had supplanted him as the starter.
With Tannehill taking Tennessee all the way to the AFC Championship Game, the Titans committed to him and allowed Mariota to leave in free agency.
Mariota signed with the Raiders in hopes of competing with Carr for the starting job, but he appeared in only one game in 2020 and didn't make any starts.
He was a more consistent part of the offense in 2021, but primarily in short-yardage situations as a runner. Mariota appeared in 10 games, attempted only two passes and rushed 13 times for 87 yards and a touchdown.
With Mariota getting few opportunities to show what he could truly do as a quarterback in Vegas, it made sense for him to test the free-agent market again.
In Mariota, the Falcons are getting a dual-threat quarterback with a decent amount of starting experience who could reemerge as a quality starter after spending most of the previous three years as a backup.