I’m not buying the notion that Tony Gonzalez’s return to football in 2013 is all about a $7 million cash grab.

Now, I'm not doubting the report from Yahoo! Sports' Mike Silver—a fantastically credible source on the subject matter—who cited multiple Atlanta Falcons’ sources saying Gonzalez would return to play for the Falcons next season for $7 million and the option to skip all or most of training camp.

I also don't doubt that Silver’s sources made those statements or that they are accurate.

My point is, if Gonzalez returns to the Falcons in 2013, general manager Thomas Dimitroff and head coach Mike Smith did more than just open the checkbook and give the best tight end of all time a hall pass until Week 1.

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The Atlanta Falcons and strong safety William Moore agreed to a five-year deal Saturday, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, that is worth $30 million, $14 million guaranteed.

Moore was one of the unrestricted free agents from Atlanta’s 2012 roster whom general manager Thomas Dimitroff coveted. Instead of letting Moore test the free-agent market—which the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported was Moore’s wish—Atlanta paid him well.

Moore was a huge part of Mike Nolan’s new defense in Atlanta in 2012 and part of a safety tandem with Thomas DeCoud that wreaked havoc on opposing offenses. Since the Falcons released cornerback Dunta Robinson and Brent Grimes is an unrestricted free agent, the outside of the Falcons’ defensive backfield is riddled with question marks.

But the middle is solid, as both Moore and DeCoud are locked up through the 2016 season. Here are three reasons why this move was vitally important for the Falcons.

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The Carolina Panthers shed $7.9 million and landed about $4 million under the salary cap by releasing cornerback Chris Gamble on Friday, according to Joe Person of the Charlotte Observer.

The Panthers also decimated the talent level at cornerback on their depth chart and will now have to seriously address bringing in talented help via free agency or the draft. The move was fiscally necessary, but now there’s work to do for general manager Dave Gettleman.

Gamble played just four games last season after being placed on injured reserve with a torn right labrum. But no one pulled down more interceptions in 2011 than Gamble’s three, and he led or tied for the team lead five other times in his nine-year tenure with the Panthers.

The Panthers now have just six cornerbacks on the roster, but two—Captain Munnerlyn and Nate Ness will hit free agency on March 12. That leaves James Dockery, Nick Hixson, Josh Norman and Joshua Thomas as the only cornerbacks on the roster under contract into and beyond the 2013 season.

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Defensive end Cliff Avril has played for five seasons in the NFL for the Detroit Lions in their 4-3 defensive scheme. Just because he’s been in the 4-3, don’t pigeon-hole him as someone who can’t be helpful to a 3-4 team.

Avril told Michigan Live that he is willing and believes he could make the switch to a 3-4.

Avril has 39.5 sacks over his five seasons in the NFL and has averaged just over 9.5 in his last three seasons. At 6'3" and 260 pounds, Avril is more of a tweener anyway than a pure defensive end.

The first thing general managers should look at in Avril is his ability to get to the quarterback. Take away the definition of position and Avril is simply a pass-rush specialist.

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There are few time periods each year that are filled with more conjecture, bickering and jockeying for position than the time between the NFL Scouting Combine and the NFL draft.

For just about two months every fan, football writer, agent and player will attempt to predict who will land with which NFL team and in what round.

I’ll be taking a few swings at full seven-round mock drafts for each NFC South team shortly, but right now it’s time to gather up some of the early mocks performed around the Internet and discuss them at length.

As it stands right now—there are still compensatory picks to be handed out—the New Orleans Saints have five picks in the upcoming 2013 NFL draft. They were punished in the bounty scandal and forced to forfeit their second-round pick and they traded their seventh-round pick to Seattle for linebacker Barrett Ruud.

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The NFL is still six days away from the opening day of free agency. But as long as there’s a Darrelle Revis rumor floating around, this isn’t a week to get some rest before the busy pre-draft period begins.

The Revis saga has turned into a maelstrom of breaking news and misinformation. Adam Schefter of ESPN reported the New York Jets were determined to deal Revis. Then, Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News linked the San Francisco 49ers and the Atlanta Falcons as suitors.

Not only are the Falcons more interested in signing their own free agents to be, Mike Freeman of CBS Sports reported the Falcons were not interested in Revis. A source told Chris Mortensen of ESPN that the 49ers’ interest in Revis would barely register on a scale of one to 10.

Just so the teams linked to Revis weren’t the only flip-flopping aspects to this story, Revis told Michael Robinson of “The Real Rob Report” that it would be awesome to play for the 49ers.

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Atlanta Falcons strong safety William Moore missed four games last year and still finished fifth on the team in tackles with 75, 22 behind team leader Stephen Nicholas. Had Moore player in every game, he likely would have been the team leader in tackles.

It could definitely hurt when a guy who could lead the team in tackles leaves via free agency.

The leading tackler for the Falcons in 2011 was Curtis Lofton. He bolted to the New Orleans Saints last year and the Falcons fell apart on defense. Lofton‘s departure wasn’t the sole reason, but the Falcons did have a lot of trouble tackling. If in two consecutive seasons a major player in the tackles department left the Falcons via free agency, what would happen to this defense?

It can’t get much worse for the 24^th-ranked defense in 2012. Since the Falcons already cut two major defensive stars in defensive end John Abraham and cornerback Dunta Robinson, can they really afford to lose another in Moore? And how much would it cost to re-sign him?

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New York Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis is definitely a better option than any player currently on the Atlanta Falcons’ roster, or any player who will become available on the free-agent market next week. But the Falcons can’t afford to trade for Revis, and it only has a little to do with money.

Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News reported that the Falcons are one of “two to three legitimate buyers” interested in acquiring Revis from the Jets.

While a blockbuster move would fit into general manager Thomas Dimitroff’s modus operandi for pulling off at least one huge deal per offseason—Tony Gonzalez in 2009, Dunta Robinson in 2010, the draft-pick trade to grab Julio Jones in 2011 and Asante Samuel in 2012—trading for Revis would hurt in too many other areas to be a sound move.

The first issue is that the Jets are likely to ask for a first-round draft pick as part of the package to obtain Revis, possibly two first-round picks. The Falcons have seven tradable draft picks in 2013, including their first-rounder at No. 30. But the team has many needs to fill.

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