Unlike Tom Brady and Troy Aikman, Matt Ryan never had dual role option for broadcasting and NFL front office

There was once an understanding that if you worked directly for an NFL franchise, you couldn’t also be a broadcaster.

That understanding went out the window with Tom Brady, who is the face of Fox’s NFL coverage while also owning (and having a significant say in the hiring processes for) the Las Vegas Raiders. While few people around the league seem to have an issue with any potential conflict of interest, we’ll see how they feel about that if the Raiders ever get good under Brady’s watch.

While Brady might have been considered a one-of-one scenario, ESPN’s Troy Aikman was hired by the Miami Dolphins during the season to help in its general manager and head coaching search. Now that the team has hired Aikman’s preferred candidate, he now has a vested interest in the franchise not only doing well but in that coach seeming like a smart hire, which raises questions about how he’ll cover the Dolphins on Monday Night Football.

Matt Ryan was the latest NFL broadcaster to reach across the aisle and join forces with an NFL team’s front office. The longtime Atlanta Falcons quarterback was named the team’s president of football operations last month. At the time, he was working for CBS Sports as an analyst, and given the situations for Brady and Aikman, there was speculation that he might continue in that role while working for the Falcons.

Turns out, that was never an option.

“No, it was not on the table,” Falcons team president and CEO Greg Beadles told Front Office Sports. “[Owner] Arthur [Blank] didn’t want a consultant, didn’t want an advisor. Like, this is a full-time job. And so we wanted to make sure Matt knew that. The only way he would do it is to be all-in, 100%. And that’s what he’s been doing since day one.”

Beadles implies that CBS wasn’t too happy about seeing the Falcons take one of their rising stars away, but it was clear there was no other way for the team to do it.

“The folks at CBS, when we walk by over there, they’re giving us a little bit of a slant eye for taking him away,” Beadles said. “But he knew he had to be all in.”

It’s a little different when you’re a president (an employee) and not an owner, like Tom Brady, but it speaks to how all-in Ryan is on the role. For Brady, broadcasting is one of seemingly 803 things on his docket, which will always generate questions about how long he’ll stick with it.