Bears not serious about Plax?
Plaxico Burress | Giants | Interested: Rams? 49ers? Raiders? Bears? Jets?
In a posting last week on his Twitter account, agent Drew Rosenhaus indicated that there were two teams that were "serious" about signing Plaxico Burress. The assumption then, as now, was that the New York Jets are one of those teams. On Sunday at the Bears Expo, Chicago Bears general manager Jerry Angelo addressed his team's "seriousness" about signing Plax in saying, "Are we one of those teams? No," according to the Chicago Tribune.
In spite of this lack of "serious" interest, the team will perform its due diligence on Burress. Angelo explained this to the Tribune: "We'll look at every option. [His] situation is different because there are circumstances. We'll monitor it." He later said, "[Burress] could help any team. His play, his production speaks for itself. Everybody would love to have him on their team, including the New York Giants. But obviously, there are things that have to happen now for him to play in the league, get on with his life. There are a lot of hurdles to cross before you can really seriously sit here and use that as a viable option."
The last line underscores the reason why receiver-needy teams have been cautious in their approach to Plax, as even if he does not receive any jail time for his gun possession charges, the league could suspend him for a significant part of 2009. Of course, there's a remote chance that the league could consider the six regular-season games that Burress missed in 2008 as "time already served" and shorten the suspension to just a game or two.
Although the Jets and Bears will remain as the top rumored teams in the Burress hunt, don't count out the St. Louis Rams, San Francisco 49ers or Oakland Raiders. Burress would represent a keen upgrade to the Rams' receiving corps and he would be reuniting with a familiar face in Steve Spagnuolo, albeit a face that used to coach Burress' defensive counterparts with the G-Men. As for the Niners and Raiders, Plax would be a solid veteran upgrade to their respective slew of pass-catchers as well, and would take some of the heat off of each of those teams' highly drafted receivers. And if Oakland's rumored interest in Michael Vick proves to be true, Burress' alleged crimes pale in comparison. The Baltimore Ravens were so desperate for receiving help that they brought in Jerry Porter for a workout, but the team has very little room under the cap and would not be able to financially compete with the offers from other teams.
In the end, it's unlikely that any team will be making official moves on Burress until after his next court appearance on June 15, when we'll know more about the long-term results of his legal issue.