One of the few remaining notable free agent wide receivers is Plaxico Burress. He’s traveled a long, difficult road since catching the Super Bowl game winning pass from Eli Manning that destroyed the Patriots’ undefeated record back in February, 2008. It doesn’t seem to be getting any easier for Burress.
According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Harrold, Plaxico Burress would like to workout for the Miami Dolphins, but the team has shown no interest in bringing in veteran wide receivers such as Burress, Roy Williams, or Braylon Edwards. According to Jackson, Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland said the he “could be done” in regards to his shaping of the Dolphins’ wide receiving corp.
The implication here is that Jeff Ireland wants the Dolphins’ young receivers to step up instead of bringing in questionable veteran talent. Obviously, that’s any team’s hope, but it doesn’t always work out well for teams that employ this method. Another in-state team, the Jaguars, are possibly the best example in the league of failing to develop competent wide receivers. If the Dolphins’ young receivers aren’t developing quickly, they need to seriously consider bringing in an impact player like Burress.
A year ago, I would have said that Burress would be able to find a team, but there just doesn’t seem to be any interest from the teams in bringing in older receivers. Just last year we witnessed Terrell Owens produce a televised workout in which no NFL team attended. He went unsigned until finally agreeing to terms with the Allen Wranglers of the Indoor Football League. To say the least, Burress’ situation isn’t looking very promising.
