Plaxico Burress: Pursue or No?

With news coming out this week that Plaxico Burress will be released from prison in June, I suppose we have to discuss the possibility of the Jets signing him. I am sure there will be some speculation. The 6'5" 232 pound receiver has put up four career 1,000 yard receiving seasons. He has missed the past two seasons while in prison serving gun related charges from a 2008 incident where he shot himself in the leg.

Unlike many of the other players, I am not going to break this feature into multiple parts and look at it from many angles. That is because signing Burress would make little sense for the Jets, and saying it makes little sense might be generous. Consider that Burress has not played football in almost three years. Think about Michael Vick. When a guy is out of football shape for that long, it takes him a while just to get that back. Vick spent his entire first year getting himself ready to play again. It is one thing to sit out training camp like Darrelle Revis did. It is quite another to not play football. Any team signing Burress would probably spend 2011 trying to get him ready to contribute in 2012. By the time that season starts, he will be 35, and his physical skills will presumably be in great decline.

If this was two years ago, Burress was not going to jail, and the Jets only had Jerricho Cotchery as a proven receiver, there might be some wisdom in signing him. Even if the team loses Braylon Edwards or Santonio Holmes, there are better options in the form of Randy Moss and Chad Johnson. Heck, even Terrell Owens would probably make more sense. Jerricho Cotchery would probably be more productive than Burress if Jerricho slid back into the starting lineup.

The Jets are probably going to explore the option. They perform due diligence on almost every option. I cannot see any logic behind signing Burress, though.