FalcFans Forums

5 yrs per Adam Schefter.

Well the biggest priority is taken care of. Now we'll see where we stand on Baker, Grimes.

in future Falcons news " William Moore suffered a torn _______ today in practice. Coach Smith is hopeful for his return by the end of the season"

I'm striking out trying to find the numbers. Glad we resigned him, hope we didn't overpay.

per DOL:

By D. Orlando Ledbetter

The Falcons reached a five-year, $30 million deal with safety William Moore on Saturday.

“It’s a relief,” said Moore, who had $14 million of the deal guranteed. “That was my ultimate goal, to continue to be here in Atlanta and try to get the Super Bowl. I’m very pleased with the negotiations.”

Moore, who made the Pro Bowl last season as an alternate, was set to become an unrestricted free agent on Tuesday. The deal can’t be made official until Tuesday, when the new league year begin.

Moore, who turns 28 in May, was drafted in the second round (55th overall) of the 2009 draft.

Moore missed most of his rookie season with knee and hamstring injuries.

Moore broke into the lineup in 2010, starting 15 of 16 games. He had 108 tackles and five interceptions.

In 2011, Moore started 11 of 12 games and had 62 tackles and two interceptions.

Last season, Moore turned in a fine season with 105 tackles and four interceptions. He went to the Pro Bowl when San Francisco’s Pro Bowl safeties Donte Whitner and Dashon Goldson reached the Super Bowl.

Moore was fine with not hitting the open market.

“It’s a good problem to have, but at the same time, it’s a process that you hate to go through because you don’t know where the next chapter in your life will end up at,” Moore said. “But I was hoping that I would stay here in Atlanta for the whole time. We just had to work through (free agency).”

Also, former Falcons cornerback Dunta Robinson, who was recently released, reached a three-year contract agreement with the Kansas City Chiefs, according to multiple reports.

Moore didn’t mind that he didn’t receive the team’s franchise tag. If tagged, Moore could have played next season for the Falcons at $6.912 million, which is the average of the top five safeties.

The Falcons used their franchise tag on cornerback Brent Grimes last season. He was paid $10.2 million.

Buffalo placed the franchise tag on safety Jairus Byrd. He was the lone safety of the eight players around the NFL to receive the tag.

“This whole entire process is basically just knowing your value and where you want to stand as a player,” Moore said. “Where you are pitching yourself at. It’s not (anything) personal.”

The Falcons never wanted Moore to reach the open market and ramped up their negotiations as teams were allowed to start calling potential unrestricted free agents today.

“I love the Atlanta Falcons,” Moore said. “They gave me an opportunity to be blessed and come into the NFL and be a part of this great organization.”

On 790TheZone last week, Moore seemed to indicate that he would stay with the Falcons for less money.

“I really don’t know the final numbers, but it’s very decent," Moore said. "I think the Falcons were very considerate of my position. It’s just a blessing to be in this position and be financially stable.”

Moore, who was featured by defensive coordinator Mike Nolan last season, played out his original four-year, $3.4 million deal.

“I remember being in college and working out for the Falcons," Moore said. "I confirmed to (Thomas Dimitroff) that I’d love to come in and help the Falcons get to a Super Bowl. Just coming that close (last season), shows that we’ve made that progress over the four years since I’ve been here. I’m sure that with the guys that we have here, the sky is the limit."

Last season, the Falcons re-signed free safety Thomas DeCoud to a five-year $17.5 million contract.

6 million a year with 14 guaranteed... Not too bad, really. Polamalu got 9 million a year. Moore is no Polamalu, but the contract is actually pretty close to where it should be. I'm sure that we could have played hard ball, but I think it's good that we got this done. His cap hit this year will probably be around 4.5 million or so. Plenty of room left.

That is a great deal for one of our main defensive players. I'll take that.

I dont understand how this is a 'great deal'. IMO it is a 'good' deal, but it relies on WillyMo always to be 'ready'. I think his injury history may have driven the price down. So: is that 'genius' from TD? Well, if he stays healthy, 'yes'. If he is injured in game 2-3, not so much.

*cue Pudge's injury defense with stats in 3...2...1... *

I think it's a good deal fun gus. Compare to deals signed in recent years by safeties:

*- indicates player was older than Moore at the time of signing their deals

2012:

Michael Griffin, TEN ($7M/yr., $15M guaranteed)
Tyvon Branch, OAK ($6.65M/yr., $17.6M guaranteed)

2011:

Troy Polamalu, PIT ($9.13M/yr., $10.55M guaranteed)*
Michael Huff, OAK ($8M/yr., $16M guaranteed)*
Eric Weddle, SD ($8M/yr., $19M guaranteed)
Quintin Mikell, STL ($6.75M/yr., $14M guaranteed)*
Roman Harper, NO($6.25M/yr., $16M guaranteed)*
Dawan Landry, JAC ($5.5M/yr., $10.5M guaranteed)*
Danieal Manning, HOU ($5M/yr., $9M guaranteed)*

2010:

Antrel Rolle, NYG ($7.4M/yr., $15M guaranteed)
Antoine Bethea, IND ($6.75M/yr., $18M guaranteed)

$6M/yr., $14M guaranteed for MOore, with $18M paid in first 3 years. Has a bonus of around $8M, and $10.5M total (assuming $2.5M base salary) in Year 1.

In 3 years, Moore will probably be done. This is essentially a 3-yr., $18M deal, which I think is a pretty good price if you ask me.

well, I guess it is a 'good' deal. But Pudge: what about WillyMo's Always Rehabbing? I mean: if he stays 'healthy' then it's golden, right? But: if he misses 2-3 games, is it really THAT 'great' a deal? IMO, no.

Good deal in my opinion, he'll be happy and we didn't over pay. This is the exact number that came to my mind when I thought what's fair. Glad to have him back

Well safeties in general are always hurt. Look at all of hte other safeties available this off-season: Louis Delmas, Kenny Phillips, Patrick Chung, LaRon Landry. Always hurt.

Look across the league, you'd be hard-pressed to find a team that doesn't have a safety that routinely misses 2-4 games per year.

What were the Falcons alternatives? Moore is the 2nd best player on the defense under the age of 30, and 4th best overall once you allow Babs and Asante back into the equation. Were you going to let that player walk because you don't like the fact that he gets hurt?

Well, again guess what? So does every other safety. You may not be excited about committing long-term to a player that is constantly hurt, but whether you signed someone else cheaper or drafted his replacement in the 1st or 2nd round of this year's draft (because only then would you get a comparable talent), you'd be doing the same thing. Guess how many safeties have started all 16 games each over the past 2 seasons? 8. 3 seasons? 4. 4 seasons? 1, Dawan Landry.

Moore and safeties' injury concerns means that you need to always have 3 starting-caliber safeties on your roster. James Sanders, Chris Hope, Erik Coleman. Unless the Falcons believe Charles Mitchell can be that player this year, they are not done at safety. Maybe they sign someone in the next month, maybe they wait until after the draft and OTAs like they did last year with Hope before signing someone.

I get your concerns, but it's just the nature of the beast, and I think you would agree that you'd rather have a known commodity like Moore back there than other options.

I'm starting to think Fun Gus doesn't like anyone on the team basically he's becoming the 2009 Pudge. I would love a valid reason on why Moore shouldn't have been re-signed because there isn't one. He played at a high level last season and was a big factor in major wins over the likes of New Orleans and Denver in primetime games.

well, yeah I hadn't really considered that..I wonder why that is? Just the nature of the position, or the result of stronger, faster TE's?

considering the alternatives, I would have to say TD got this one right

Nature of the position methinks. I think it has mainly to do with the fact that you have a 210-pound safety that is running full speed into bigger players. At least linebackers are 240 lbs, and typically outweigh nearly all NFL running backs, unlike safeties.

It's not that different from running backs. RBs have the shortest shelf life, usually losing "it" around age 28. Safeties it's only a year or two later. It's just the wear and tear required at the position.