Mathias Kiwanuka: Pursue or No? Part 3: The Injury

One area where teams interested in Mathias Kiwanuka must do their homework is the player's health. I am not particularly sympathetic to the idea Kiwanuka is injury prone just because he has suffered a pair of season ending injuries during his five years in the league. The first one was a broken leg. That can happen to anybody and is not a chronic condition. The second one should provide a bit more pause.

Kiwanuka missed the last 13 games of 2010 with a bulging disc in his neck. Kiwanuka's former teammate, Antonio Pierce, had a similar condition and retired after the 2009 season. At one point, Pierce's doctors expressed optimism about a potentially quick return to the field for him.

Particularly with the focus the NFL is putting on preventing serious injuries, any team looking at Kiwanuka's spinal related condition will need to thoroughly examine whether it is completely gone. Teams do this before giving guaranteed money to players anyway, but this player might deserve even a little extra attention.