goodbye, tony gonzalez.

tony gonzalez traded to the falcons for 2010 2nd round pick.

i understand why we did it, tony's getting old and he only has 1 or 2 seasons left in the NFL, and it will be nice to pull a 2nd rounder next year that will contribute to the team in the future. the question i think you have to ask is whether TG's contributions this year would have outweighed a 2nd round pick's contributions in the distant future.

i say yes. and for the following reasons:

1. the falcons have the 3rd toughest schedule in the 2009 season, which means that their pick in the 2010 draft is likely to be in the 1st half of the selection. a late first round pick is nearly as good as an early 2nd round pick.

2. tony didn't want to be in kansas city. when a veteren player, and team leader, doesn't want to be on the team then that attitude translates to younger players. since that is all the chiefs have on their team at this point then i think it's a good move.

3. the chiefs can pull a very decent player out of the 2nd round. assuming average NFL success, i'll take a solid OT or DT for a few years over 1 year of tony.

at the end of the day though, tony's going to be missed. i'm sure it's emotional for everyone in kc to say goodbye to the guy - i know it will be for me. and it would certainly be nice to have his production this year. we won't know how this trade pans out for 5 or 6 years probably. it depends entirely on what we do with this 2010 pick and how successful that decision is in the future.

i'm sad. but very optimistic. i have faith in the pioli/haley era. it's different, and i have to be okay with that. i trust them with my fandom.

so long tony. we'll miss you.

-ap.