Tony Gonzalez isn’t playing like he’s winding down his Hall of Fame career.
So, he’ll be in a Falcons uniform for at least one more season.
The Falcons signed the 15-year veteran to a one-year, $6.9 million contract extension Sunday, hours before the regular-season finale against the Buccaneers. The tight end, named to his 12th Pro Bowl last week, was due to be a free agent. Gonzalez made $5.75 million this season, the final of a five-year deal he signed with the Chiefs before being traded to the Falcons in 2009.
Gonzalez said he started to think about playing another year toward the end of the season. It took several family meetings to make his decision.
“I’m not going to come back just to come back,” Gonzalez said. “At this point, it’s not about the money. It’s about winning some games, being on a good team and growing with it.”
Gonzalez, who will turn 36 in February, is second on the NFL’s all-time receptions list with 1,149. He trails only Jerry Rice, who was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2010 after a 1,549-reception career. He is 11th in league history with 13,338 receiving yards after Sunday, one of only 13 players to eclipse the 13,000-yard mark.
Gonzalez holds nearly every record for tight ends, including most career receiving yards, most career receptions, most receptions in a single season, most touchdown catches, most 100-yard games and most 1,000-yard seasons.
He entered Sunday’s game third in the league in receptions (79) and fourth in receiving yards (867) among tight ends this season. He also has seven touchdowns. Gonzalez has caught at least 60 passes in 13 straight seasons.
Gonzalez said he briefly considered free agency as part of his family discussions. In the end a future with the Falcons made up his mind.
“The sky is the limit with this team. ...This is a comfortable match for me. I’m able to be productive in this offense. I love the quarterback, Matt Ryan was a big part of that. The coaching staff was too. I love [Mike Smith]. And the owner too, Mr. Blank, there is no better. It’s just a good situation. Everything I went down the checklist came up positive. Why would I want to go anywhere else?”
General manager Thomas Dimitroff said the team has been working to re-sign Gonzalez for much of the season.
“We wanted him back here," Dimitroff said. "We think he is an integral part of our offense as well as his leadership role. It was very important to us to get this deal done.”
Dimitroff said both the team and Gonzalez were looking for a one-year deal and they will consider the future on a “year-by-year” basis.
The early signing gives the Falcons one less roster move to make in the upcoming offseason. The team now has 19 players due to become free agents including key veterans defensive end John Abraham and center Todd McClure.
“This wasn’t about which free agent was the most important to secure,” Dimitroff said. “It’s a good start. It makes things a lot easier to see where we are going moving forward in trying to get the rest of our deals done. … It helps us gauge where we are in the rest of our financial situation.”
Other players playing the last year of their contracts are linebacker Curtis Lofton, cornerback Brent Grimes, defensive back Thomas DeCoud, wide receiver Harry Douglas, defensive end Kroy Biermann, quarterback Chris Redman, return man Eric Weems, running back Jason Snelling, linebacker Mike Peterson, center Brett Romberg, offensive lineman Kirk Chambers, tight end Michael Palmer, long snapper Joe Zelenka, tight end Reggie Kelly, defensive tackle Vance Walker, and defensive backs Kelvin Hayden and James Sanders.
The Falcons will get some salary cap relief as they are unlikely to re-sign all the pending free agents. The league cap is expected to rise slightly. This season, the Falcons used 98.6 percent of the $123.3 million salary cap, the third highest percentage in the NFL. They had $1.6 million in cap room. Only the Giants ($1.5 million) and Steelers ($1.01 million) had less room.
