Falcons’ Dimitroff not interested in trade market

In the nine days that have passed since the Falcons lost to the New York Jets on a Monday night, suffering relative humiliation on national television for an expected Super Bowl contender, the team has made one roster move: They signed a free-agent wide receiver, Brian Robiskie, who has caught seven passes and played for three teams in the past two years, but is the son of the team’s receivers coach, Terry Robiskie.

Nobody should have expected a roster overhaul. This is the NFL. We seldom see multiplayer trades like in major league baseball or basketball, certainly not in-season. The salary cap makes trades problematic. So does the combination of a team’s unique schemes (which require a player time to acclimate) and a 16-game season (which doesn’t provide adequate time).

But even with those circumstances as a backdrop, the response by the Falcons has seemed, well, muted.

No receiver has been acquired, even with Julio Jones (broken foot) out for the season and Roddy White having run out of good legs to run on: One has an ankle sprain, the other a hamstring pull. (Notable: The 0-6 New York Giants reportedly are open to listening to trade offers for starter Hakeem Nicks, who will be a free agent after the season.)

No offensive lineman has been acquired to help a unit that has struggled at times. (Notable: Jacksonville dealt starting left tackle Eugene Monroe, also an impending free agent, to Baltimore for third-day draft picks. Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome knew his line needed help, and he doesn’t make a lot of mistakes.)

We’ve seen similar proactive moves by Indianapolis (trading for Cleveland running back Trent Richardson) and Minnesota (acquiring Tampa Bay quarterback Josh Freeman). These are rare deals for the NFL, which establishes an early trade deadline to avoid potential game-changing deals, unlike MLB, the NBA and NHL. By the time this season’s Oct. 29 deadline passes, teams will have played only seven or eight games.

Will the Falcons do anything?

“As it stands now, absolutely not,” general manager Thomas Dimitroff said.

It wouldn’t seem to be a very proactive approach by a pretty proactive general manager. But Dimitroff maintains confidence about the existing roster. He doesn’t foresee a deal that could improve the team, nor does he believe in in-season trades.

“Philosophically I’m not a big proponent of trading during the season,” he said, “because there’s so much involved in trying to learn a system, and there are aspects of team chemistry that we’re mindful of.”

Recently, baseless rumors circulated that the Falcons, as if in the mindset of bagging the remainder of the season, would be open to trading tight end Tony Gonzalez back to Kansas City as sort of a retirement present. Like a lot of trade rumors, this one had as much science to it as a rock-paper-scissors. It started as a, “Wouldn’t it be great …” conversation on sports talk radio.

Coach Mike Smith already has shot it down, and it wouldn’t even be worth addressing in this space except for the fact that Dimitroff used it as a way to illustrate his belief in the team — and to articulate that nothing negative should be read into why the Falcons haven’t made any other moves.

“To echo what our coach said, we are absolutely not trading Tony Gonzalez,” Dimitroff said. “The simple fact that we’re not entertaining trading him speaks volumes about our drive and determination to have a successful season.”

It’s the right thing to say. There’s just not a lot of folks right now who believe that’s going to happen, given recent performances, the difficulty of the remaining schedule and injuries. If White and running back Steven Jackson miss Sunday’s game against Tampa Bay, Matt Ryan again will be handing off to Jacquizz Rodgers and Jason Snelling and throwing to a receiver group picked from Harry Douglas (suddenly, the experienced leader), Kevin Cone, Drew Davis and Robiskie.

Smith acknowledged Tuesday that the team’s cast wasn’t going to change, saying, “We’ve got to play better, we’ve got to coach better and we all have to take responsibility for the outcomes of the first five ballgames. We can’t make excuses. This is a no-excuse business.”

Douglas has a greeting card hanging in his locker that his wife gave him. It has a picture of a toddler wearing eye black and the caption reads, “Tackle it one day at a time.”

“That’s all we can do,” he said. “We have to look at things positively — just keep working hard, and things will work out. I know everybody has their opinions, but we don’t worry about that. We just have to correct the problems.”