The latest twist in the Brent Grimes free agent saga? Thomas Dimitroff himself looking to prove me wrong, of course.
Pro Football Talk has Dimitroff saying that the Falcons not only want to sign Grimes and are actively negotiating for him—which is not in and of itself a surprise—but that even acknowledging they might use the franchise tag on him. Any fretting over his fit in the defense appears to be for naught, because the team clearly still has a ton of interest.
Locking up Grimes would bring back the team's best cornerback and effectively eliminate the need to spend any draft picks at the position. Grimey, Dunta Robinson, Chris Owens, Dominique Franks and Darrin Walls is a pretty effective depth chart, no matter how you slice it.
So this is a pretty clear statement of intent all the way around, with one small caveat. Just as agents like to drive up the asking price for their clients or force a player to the table, Thomas Dimitroff could be making a team desperate for Grimes look to pay a little bit more by indicating the Falcons are hot on his heels. That seems unlikely at best, though.
The most likely outcome if the Falcons are serious about paying Grimey is that they'll be able to get him. Their real competition will likely come from teams like the Buccaneers, Rams and Vikings that could use another corner and have a little money to throw around. If Grimes wants to come back, though, I think he'll be here in 2012.
So I view this as good news. Do you?