73 staffers at the AJC have accepted voluntary buyouts, meaning that layoffs will be avoided. A Rome (Ga.) Web site reports that among those taking the buyout are well-known sports writers Tony Barnhart and Furman Bisher.

I don’t expect that Barnhart will be put out too much; an SEC expert with the experience and connections of “Mr. College Football” is sure to be snapped up by a national network or publication. For Bisher, you’d have to think that this buyout represents retirement for the Atlanta mainstay. We’ve already seen one additional change on the AJC sports page this summer; Georgia beat writer Carter Strickland has moved on. Chip Towers has picked up the load and is hardly a stranger to the Georgia beat.