It’s been an active offseason for the Atlanta Falcons with high profile guys filtering in and others funneling out. They continued last year’s rebuilding project by pressing onward in their youth movement by letting team cornerstones like 11-year vet Keith Brooking (Cowboys) and key contributors like Michael Boley (Giants) and Lawyer Milloy find their way down the proverbial yellow brick road. Grady Jackson also left the team in free agency to the hapless Lions. While these players had lost a step with age, the most critical loss was Dominique Foxworth who signed with the Ravens after a productive, if short lived, 2008 campaign with the Falcons.

For the most part, things were fairly quiet on the free agent acquisition side. Mike Peterson was picked up from Jacksonville, and has a quantum leap head start spending years operating Mike Smith’s defensive schemes for the Jaguars. He’s amassed 1365 tackles, 19.5 sacks and 15 interceptions in his 10-year career. But what the Falcons free agency may have lacked in size they made up for in sizzle. Their most glaring offensive need hung over the tight end position, and general manager Thomas Dimitroff closed the deal on one of the best tight ends to ever play the game in Kansas City’s Tony Gonzalez (read the full story). Gonzalez may lack the coveted youth the Falcons hold dear, but he’s one of the best with plenty of gas sloshing around in the tank to fuel Matt Ryan’s passing attack for two to four years to come.

Having shored up their offensive deficiencies with Gonzalez, Dimitroff used the 2009 draft to reconstruct the defensive side of the ball. First round pick at 24 was for the defensive tackle out of Ole Miss Peria Jerry. Jerry is definitely a high motor player, leading the SEC in tackles for a loss last year, counting up 6 sacks in the process. He’s the run stopper that Smith has been waiting for. He will be an instant starter week 1 and serve as an upgrade over Jonathan Babineaux. Round two had the Falcons taking William Moore, a safety out of Missouri. Moore could present some serious value here. Had he entered the draft last year, he was slated to be a top 10 selection, bolstered by his 117 tackles and 8 interceptions season. He sled down the charts in 09 due to injuries his senior year.

In the third, the Falcons picked up corner back Christopher Owens out of San Jose State. In the fourth, they selected Richmond’s defensive end Lawrence Sidbury. Sidbury is a quick player for his size, besting all defensive linemen at the Combine running a 4.5 40-yard dash. Some even projected him to be second round talent. Furman’s Corner back William Middleton was secured in the fifth. Middleton didn’t perk up on too many people’s radars not having been given an invite to the NFL Combine, yet he shows promise to be able to compete with Houston, Grimes and Von Hutchins for the job. Offensive tackle Garrett Reynolds and outside linebacker Spencer Adkins were picked in the sixth and defensive tackle out of Georgia Tech Vance Walker was taken in the eighth.

Notable undrafted free agents pickups included Clemson wide receiver Aaron Kelly (projected 5th rounder) and Alabama quarterback John Parker Wilson (projected 4-5 round). If the Dimitroff’s keen eye for uncovering talent holds true to form, this defensive class should go a long way to establishing the Falcons as a perennial contender much in the same mold as his former employers — the New England Patriots.