Even though Matt Ryan officially hung up his cleats last year, the former Atlanta Falcons QB hasn’t exactly faded into the background. In fact, he’s kind of everywhere. He’s broken down film and storylines on the CBS pregame desk, jumped into a podcast with ex-Rams legend Aaron Donald and longtime Atlanta reporter Zach Klein to unpack the league.

And because he can’t stay away from the Falcons, he even mentored Michael Penix Jr. through his rookie season in 2024 as the starter. Fast forward to now, and he’s stepping away from his pregame desk for a short while and is all set to become a part of the NFL Christmas Gameday this season.

Just a short while ago, the NFL dropped its Christmas Day broadcast lineup. And yes, Netflix is back in the mix for the second straight year. The league clearly loves this streaming experiment, because the platform is once again hosting the first two games of the holiday triple-header.

Netflix will kick things off with the Dallas Cowboys at the Washington Commanders at 1 p.m. ET, then roll straight into the Detroit Lions at the Minnesota Vikings at 4:30 p.m. As for Matt Ryan, the NFL legend will serve as a game analyst and will share the booth with CBS Sports’ Ian Eagle and Nate Burleson in Washington for the Cowboys-Commanders clash.

In addition to Ryan, the NFL Netflix doubleheader will feature the following prominent names:

Beyond the Netflix doubleheader, the holiday schedule closes with the final matchup of the day: the Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Denver Broncos. Amazon Prime has the night slot this year and will stream the game starting at 8:15 p.m. ET.

At 40, Matt Ryan shared his thoughts on NFL return

Quarterbacks like Joe Flacco and Aaron Rodgers are still taking snaps in their 40s. Matt Ryan, meanwhile, also 40, stepped away from the game last year after 14 seasons with the Falcons and a final season with the Indianapolis Colts. And that naturally raises the question: could Ryan think about an NFL return? It turns out he’s already addressed that very possibility.

Last month, ahead of the Week 8 matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and the New York Jets, Ryan joked with sideline reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala (who had spent time with Joe Flacco and his family before the game), asking whether Flacco had any tips for a fellow 40-year-old trying to keep up with the league.

Kinkhabwala passed along Flacco’s lighthearted advice: “Drink more water.” The moment got a quick laugh on the broadcast, and one of the other hosts even floated the idea that a few teams might still be interested in seeing Ryan back under center. But Ryan didn’t let the speculation hang for long.

“I’m good,” he said, smiling as he shut the door on the idea.

So yes, Ryan may be spending more time behind a broadcast desk these days, and maybe getting a little stiff from it, but for now, he has zero intention of returning to professional football. As for the Falcons fans, they may still find him sharing some words of wisdom with the team’s young quarterback.