Plaxico Burress Expresses Desire to Join Philadelphia Eagles; Should the Eagles Sign Him?
There had been speculation that wide receiver Plaxico Burress would sign with the Philadelphia Eagles following his release from prison in spring of 2011.
The Eagles ended up deciding that Burress wasn’t worth the money he wanted, and they signed another former Giants receiver–Steve Smith, who turned into a total bust.
Burress signed with the Jets and caught 45 passes for 612 yards and eight touchdowns throughout the season. Smith, on the other hand, caught 11 passes for 124 yards and a touchdown, and missed seven games due to injury.
Now Smith is a free agent, and as good as gone, but Burress is also a free agent. And the 34-year old receiver has again stated that he wishes to play for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2012.
So should the Eagles take a chance on Burress in 2012?
Let’s get one thing clear. DeSean Jackson, assuming he stays, will be the top receiver. Jeremy Maclin, looking to rebound from a slightly disappointing 2012 season, will be the second receiver, and Jason Avant, who plays mostly in the slot, will be the third receiver. The addition of Burress would not change the order of the top three wide receivers for the Eagles.
However, Burress provides one aspect to the Eagles that has been lacking for, well, basically since Terrell Owens left in 2005.
He’s a red zone target, and one of the best in the NFL.
At 6’5, Burress pulled in seven of his eight touchdowns in the red zone last season, and would be a tremendous improvement to a team that doesn’t have a sure handed big receiver in clutch goal-to-go situations.
That’s why I think the Eagles should go after Burress in free agency. He’s old, he’s not the player he used to be, and he probably wouldn’t catch more than 30 or 35 passes over a full season with the Eagles.
But he could become a dangerous weapon in the red zone if used correctly, and that’s somewhere the Eagles have really struggled in recent years.
If the Eagles can sign Burress for around the same price that Smith was signed at ($2.2 million), I’d say go for it. After all, he already said that he wants to come to Philadelphia.
Buy Philadelphia Eagles Tickets | Buy Philadelphia Eagles Apparel
Leave a Rant
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!