Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez says he’s 95 percent sure he’s going to retire. But Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff is more optimistic than that.
Dimitroff said on Pro Football Talk on NBC Sports Network that he believes Gonzalez is wrestling with a tough decision about his future, and that the decision is far from being made one way or the other.
“Tony has done so much for us on and off the field and I don’t believe, not stating that he would be lying to anyone, but I don’t believe the 95 percent,” Dimitroff said. “I want to believe it’s a lot closer to 50/50, to be honest with you, and we’ve had discussions. Obviously Mike Smith has had discussions with him. We’re all in a good place. Ultimately it’s up to Tony to decide if he wants to come back and potentially catch 100 balls again. I think it’s one of those situations that Tony was so effective for us down the stretch and I can’t imagine that his appetite wasn’t sort of whet from his contributions in the playoffs.”
Dimitroff said that in the Falcons’ personnel offices, when they’re looking over the roster, they still have Gonzalez’s name listed as their No. 1 tight end and “absolutely have not taken his name off the board.”
Whether they end up taking his name off the board before the start of the season remains to be seen. But Dimitroff thinks it’s a lot less likely than Gonzalez has indicated.