Mike Florio

Well, when are you getting a true promotion, and is it a true promotion, and who's in charge of the football operation in Atlanta?

And you've got Matt Ryan, the president of the football operation, saying things that make it sound like Ian Cunningham's the GM.

not just basically the guy who set the table for Matt Ryan to make his decision.

So when you've got Ryan saying it, when you've got Cunningham saying it, when you've got polls saying it, it becomes more glaring that the league office continues to say, Nope, Nope, Nope.

Matt Ryan is the primary football executive.

The general manager in Atlanta isn't.

And you just wonder if the NFL is going to stay stubborn on that or whether or not they'll,

eventually relent to what the facts seem to be telling us.

I think that's a great point.

Now, Matt Ryan is here interviewing prospects in these meetings that they do, and I was surprised to hear that.

You know, Tom Brady's not here, and he's working in close collaboration with GM John Spitek.

So this is a real job that Matt Ryan has.

And, you know, the initial feedback I got when this all first came up and Matt Ryan said at the Super Bowl that Ian Cunningham is running free agency in the draft, another GM texted

This is just Matt Ryan trying to maybe give himself a little bit of a safe harbor.

If things don't work out, I didn't pick these guys.

I didn't draft these guys.

But as far as the league's concerned, he's in charge.

And I think enough's been said this week to justify another question to the NFL about, number one, is this really the rule?

And number two, what's the spirit of the rule?

Because I don't care about what's on paper.