Tony Gonzalez’s spot in the Hall of Fame is already reserved as he is one of the best tight ends to ever play the game. One thing he’s never achieved however is winning a Super Bowl. The Falcons seemed like they were well on their way as they had a 13-3 season and finally won a playoff game before losing to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship. Gonzalez told many that he would retire at the conclusion of the season after playing for 16 years. Well it turns out he might come back for one more run but he has a few conditions. Read more after the jump.
“He will come back if they pay him $7 million and he doesn’t have to do training camp,” one Falcons player told Silver.
A team source also told Silver, “If we offer him the money, he’ll most likely be back for one more. He’ll most likely be looking to miss training camp, though.”
A $7 million salary is completely reasonable for a player who is the top tight end on our list of this year’s best free agents. In fact, Gonzalez will probably have other teams offering him more money than that, although indications are that if Gonzalez is going to play at all in 2013, it’s going to be in Atlanta.
As for getting to miss training camp, the Falcons likely wouldn’t have a problem with that. Gonzalez always takes good care of himself and stays in great shape year-round, and he knows the Falcons’ offense and won’t need long to get back into rhythm when the season starts.
We won’t know until we hear it from Gonzalez himself whether he’s going to play in 2013. But the smart money is now on Gonzalez coming back for one more year.
