Grüße und Vorstellung » young tight end to the mix

Matt Ryan pulled out his secret weapons to seal the five-year contract extension that made him the NFL’s highest-paid player.

Ryan brought his infant twin boys Authentic Roquan Smith Jersey , Marshall and John, to Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank’s office on Friday, when the deal was signed.

”Tough negotiators,” a smiling Ryan said Monday.

The twins, born on April 8 following a complicated pregnancy for Ryan’s wife, Sarah, and the new contract are reasons for Ryan to have an optimistic new focus on his future.

The extension announced on Thursday is worth at least $100 million , a league record, and could be worth as much as $150 million.

Ryan has been the figurehead of the Falcons during their most successful 10-year run in franchise history. He says he sees the contract as an incentive for the future instead of a reward for leading the team to six playoff seasons, including the Super Bowl run in 2016, when he was named NFL MVP.

”We’ve had some really good teams,” Ryan said. ”But I think the best is in front of us and that’s what has me so excited about my future here and our future as an organization Authentic Trenton Cannon Jersey , that we have a lot of really good pieces in place.”

Ryan said when he was drafted in 2008 it was his hope ”to be the quarterback that a franchise leans on for a long time, 15, 20 years. That’s kind of still where my head is at.”

Before the extension, Ryan, who turns 33 on May 17, could have been a free agent after the 2018 season.

The threat of Ryan entering free agency could have been the biggest story of training camp. That was a distraction Ryan and the Falcons were eager to avoid.

Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff described the extension as ”our primary focus this offseason.”

Now Ryan can focus on football instead of finances as he prepares for the 2018 season.

”I’m happy with the timing of it,” Ryan said. ”I think the organization is very happy with the timing of it. Certainly when we get back to training camp it’s 100 percent about football. … I always felt confident it was going to get done in a smooth way and in a timely manner and I feel like it did.”

There was little question the Falcons would keep Ryan, who has helped to reshape the perception of the franchise.

Before the Ryan era, the Falcons had only eight playoff seasons in 42 years, and none in back-to-back years. With Ryan, the Falcons have made the playoffs in six of 10 years, including the 2016 Super Bowl run.

The contract extension brings continued stability for an offense that also returns wide receivers Julio Jones and Mohamed Sanu and running backs Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman. Dimitroff gave the offense a boost by making wide receiver Calvin Ridley its first-round draft pick last month.

Like Jones Youth Harold Landry Jersey , Ridley is from Alabama.

”I guess I’m an honorary Alabama quarterback now,” Ryan said. ”… I’m very excited about Calvin coming here.”

Ryan’s new deal topped the total compensation of the $84 million, three-year guaranteed deal that quarterback Kirk Cousins received from the Minnesota Vikings.

Someday, Ryan will be able to show his twins a photo taken by the Falcons of the day they were in the room when he signed the extension.

”It was a special day for our family,” he said. ”I was excited that they were there. That will always be a great memory for us but also a really cool picture for me to be able to show them when they get older. They won’t remember it, but I’ll tell them I was OK at one point.”

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One trade, then another. And still another.

When Baltimore Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome finally got done dealing in the first round of the NFL draft on Thursday night, he walked away with Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson and sure-handed tight end Hayden Hurst.

Joe Flacco is Baltimore's quarterback for now, but Jackson is sure to get some consideration in the near future after Newsome jumped back into the first round to snag the man who threw a combined 57 touchdown passes over the past two years.

Jackson was secured with the final pick of the first round in a trade with the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. Earlier, Newsome traded back twice before taking Hurst at No. 25.

"It was masterful the way it happened in the draft room tonight," beamed Newsome, who is heading the Ravens draft for the last time.

Newsome and coach John Harbaugh made it clear that Flacco remains the No. 1 quarterback. But they simply couldn't pass up the chance to take Jackson Adidas Pekka Rinne Jersey , who ran for 50 TDs and threw for 69 more during his spectacular three-run with the Cardinals.

"Joe Flacco is our quarterback. That's the thing that you got to remember," coach John Harbaugh said. "Lamar is going to have a chance to develop."

Newsome's strategy for the night was to move back twice in order to get enough chips to make the trade with Philadelphia.

His first swap was with Buffalo, when he traded picks No. 16 and 154 overall (a fifth-rounder) to the Bills for their 22nd overall pick and No. 65 鈥?the first pick of the third round.

Newsome then gave up the 22nd pick and a sixth-rounder to Tennessee for the 25th overall pick and a fourth-round selection.

That fourth-round pick went to the Eagles, along with Baltimore's second-rounder and a second-round pick in 2019, for No. 32 and 132.

"What happened in that room was a masterpiece," Harbaugh said.

Jackson hoped to go earlier, but was content to have the Ravens come calling.

"There is a chip on my shoulder. Both shoulders," he said. "I'm not mad. It's just motivation."

Hurst, meanwhile, caught 44 passes for 559 yards and two scores as a junior last season.

He is a potential replacement for Benjamin Watson, who led the Ravens with 61 catches in 2017 before leaving as a free agent.

"They said they needed a guy to come and stretch the field vertically," Hurst said. "That suits me perfectly."

Hurst was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 17th round of the 2012 Major League draft. He played two seasons in the Gulf Coast League Cheap Shaquem Griffin Jersey , first as a pitcher then as a first baseman, before giving up the sport and joining the Gamecocks as a walk-on.

"When I was with the Pirates, I just didn't have a lot of success," he said. "It was time for me to make a life change."

In the weeks leading up to the draft, Newsome focused on improving a passing attack that last year ranked 29th in the NFL. He signed three free agent receivers 鈥?Michael Crabtree, John Brown and Willie Snead 鈥?and added free agent quarterback Robert Griffin III.

Now comes Hurst.

"We added three wide receivers, now we've added a young tight end to the mix to continue to provide Joe some targets," said Newsome, an NFL Hall of Fame tight end.

Newsome's contract expires after this season. He has been in charge of every Baltimore draft since the team moved from Cleveland before the 1996 season.

His goal this year is to snag enough talent in the draft to help the Ravens end a three-year playoff drought. Baltimore went 9-7 last season, losing the finale to Cincinnati 31-27 when a victory would have given the Ravens a wild-card berth.

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