NFL | Falcons sign QB Matt Ryan to $72 million deal

ATLANTA — Quarterback Matt Ryan, the third player taken in last month's draft, signed a $72 million, six-year contract Tuesday with the Atlanta Falcons.

Team owner Arthur Blank and the Falcons were especially eager to sign Ryan and avoid a holdout. The team has a first-year general manager, Thomas Dimitroff, and a first-year coach, Mike Smith.

The Falcons' haste in finalizing the deal with Ryan received a boost when word leaked the NFL owners, who met Tuesday in Atlanta, were about to opt out of a labor deal with the players' union in 2011. Before the owners' unanimous vote, the Ryan deal could not have gone through 2013.

The Falcons and Ryan's agent, Tom Condon, already had agreed on six years as the basis for their deal, and to make that happen they needed to complete the negotiations by Tuesday.

Ryan, who played at Boston College, is guaranteed $34.75 million. His guaranteed money is $4.75 million more than that given to offensive lineman Jake Long, a Condon client taken by Miami with the first pick in the draft.

Notes

• The Dallas Cowboys signed running back Marion Barber, 24, and cornerback Terence Newman, 29, to long-term extensions — in time to beat a deadline that would have changed how the money is spread over the salary cap.

Newman's deal is a six-year extension to the final year left on his initial contract. It is worth more than $50 million, with $12 million for signing and $22.5 million guaranteed over the first three years.

Barber, a restricted free agent, received a $45 million, seven-year contract that includes $16 million in guaranteed money.

• Defensive end Charles Grant of the New Orleans Saints has been indicted on a charge of involuntary manslaughter stemming from a February altercation at a nightclub in Blakely, Ga.

Grant, 29, who was stabbed in the neck during the fracas, was charged by an Early County grand jury that also charged Laquient Macklin with felony murder and feticide in the shooting death of pregnant Korynda Reed, 23.

• The Oakland Raiders released safety Stuart Schweigert, 26, who started 37 consecutive games before being replaced by Hiram Eugene last season. The Raiders also released linebacker Akbar Gbaja-Biamila, 29.

• Washington tight end Fred Davis, a rookie from USC, apologized for missing a May 4 minicamp practice because he overslept.

• Chip Rosenbloom, a St. Louis Rams owner, issued a statement denying a report by Yahoo Sports that the team is on the market and being shopped for up to $900 million, with a sale raising the possibility of a return to the Los Angeles market.