Dunn's Falcons future in doubt
By STEVE WYCHE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 01/30/08
Phoenix — Falcons tailback Warrick Dunn accepted the inaugural Home Depot NFL Neighborhood MVP award Thursday, cherishing yet another honor for his lengthy and heartfelt community service. If only his hard work on the football field could land him some similar hardware.
In the twilight of his career and maybe the end of his time with the Falcons, Dunn lamented on being part of the Super Bowl activities but not part of the Super Bowl. After 11 seasons — the most recent being the most taxing on his soul and mind — Dunn wants one chance to play for the ultimate prize.
"Hopefully, the right situation comes along and I get an opportunity to play in a game this big," Dunn said.
At 33, coming off a mentally and statistically rough season (227 carries, 720 yards, 4 TDs), Dunn's opportunity might not come with the Falcons. Atlanta recently hired Mike Smith from Jacksonville as its new head coach and Mike Mularkey as its defensive coordinator, and change, possibly radical change, is coming.
Smith and Mularkey said they want to establish a powerful, physical running game, something the Falcons don't have the personnel for at the moment. That could change and change quickly, but some players would have to be cut to create salary-cap room for the Falcons to go shopping in free agency.
The diminutive Dunn could be at the front of the line. His base salary for 2008 — his final year of his contract — is $4 million. At his age, he's not the type of player teams tend to build their futures around, either.
"Hopefully, that all gets worked out and I'm in Atlanta playing to win a division, getting to the playoffs and making a run for the Super Bowl," Dunn said. "Nothing is guaranteed. I'm going to meet with the head coach, but they still have to sit down and meet, figure things out on which direction they want to go. I should know my future, my fate, in February. That's the month we all find out who's going to be cut and who's going to stick around."
LINK
http://www.ajc.com/falcons/content/s...dunn_0131.html