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Denarius Moore to the Atlanta Falcons is a move most of us could get on board with. After all, Moore is just 25 years old and had 46 catches for 695 yards and five touchdowns, and the team's wide receiver depth chart thins out fast.
The question is whether this is even remotely likely. As was the case with the Dion Jordan possibility, raised by Blogging Dirty's Jake Bennett, the Moore rumor stems from people taking the championing of a player fitting a need and running with them. We'll get to that in a moment, however. As is our custom, we'll break down this rumor.
Why this makes sense
The Falcons have Julio Jones and Roddy White, two of the better receivers in the NFL. Behind them, there's Harry Douglas, who the coaching staff is fond of and who has years in the offense. Behind him, it's special teams ace Devin Hester and former UDFAs Drew Davis and Darius Johnson, plus the current crop of UDFAs. One injury here exposes that depth awfully quickly.
If Oakland really is looking at a roster crunch at receiver—and there has been plenty of speculation that Moore would be on the outs in that scenario—then chances are you could obtain him for a fairly reasonable price, if he wasn't cut. Obviously if Moore hit the open market, he'd be lusted after by at least a handful of teams who would appreciate his speed and real ability at the position, and the Falcons could add him and suddenly go four deep, creating some true matchup issues for opposing defenses.
If Moore does wind up on the market and the asking price is, say, a fifth or sixth round pick, I could see a scenario where the Falcons would mull it.
Why this doesn't make sense
Moore is still just 25 years old. The team has options, sure, but James Jones is the only lock for a role, with Juron Criner impressing only in non-contact practices thus far, Greg Jenkins looking like a sleeper at best and Greg Little no sure thing by any stretch of the imagination. The Raiders would need to think at least three of these guys were better than Moore to want to cut ties, and if they're shopping for a draft pick, they have no reason to settle for anything below a fifth rounder, which is what they used on Moore in the first place.
The Falcons have a habit of going dumpster diving later in the year, but it's unclear whether they'd have any interest in Moore whatsoever. This story from Sports World Report piggybacks on D. Orlando Ledbetter's report/educated guess that the Falcons may be in the market for a receiver by the time training camp rolls around and throws out Moore's name, among others, toward that end. It's intriguing speculation, but that's all it is: Speculation.
We've got to stop getting carried away with these things, is what I'm suggesting. Moore's a natural fit and a player I'd support pursuing, but there's nothing to suggest this is something worth spending much time on at the moment.