HOUSTON — The Falcons and MVP Matt Ryan will attempt to win their first Super Bowl title Sunday in Houston. But if draft night had gone a little differently in 2008, none of this would be possible.
The landscape of the NFL would be completely different.
Rewind back nine years ago.
It’s well-known that the Ravens talked with the Rams about trading up so they could draft Matt Ryan in 2008. Sources explained this week how close the two teams got toward making the deal.
The Ravens offered their entire draft for the rights to pick Ryan, sources said, going from No. 8 to No. 2. The trade nearly happened, but the Rams asked for more. They also wanted Baltimore’s second-round pick from 2009 to clinch the deal.
At that point, cooler heads prevailed, and there was no deal.
The Rams took Chris Long, Falcons took Ryan, the Ravens traded back and took Joe Flacco.
But think about how things would’ve been different. Neither Flacco, nor Ray Rice (the team’s second-round selection in 2008) would not have been Ravens. Nor would Paul Kruger, their second-rounder in 2009.
Who would be the Falcons quarterback? Would the Ravens have one Super Bowl title like they have or more? Or fewer?
"We decided it was time to pull the trigger on the quarterback," Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome said at the time, "that we felt like was the guy to lead our football team into the future."
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