Philadelphia Eagles Not Pursuing Free Agent Wide Receiver Plaxico Burress
You can stop with the “Plaxico Burress to the Philadelphia Eagles” rumors right now. It’s not going to happen, according to head coach Andy Reid, who likes the Eagles’ wide receivers just the way they are and isn’t planning to add a veteran into the mix.
“I’m going to just leave it the way it is and let the young guys get some work in and see what they can do,” Reid said.
Plaxico was considered by many to be the obvious choice for the Eagles after third-year wide receiver Riley Cooper suffered a broken left collarbone during the first day of full contact drills at training camp on Saturday afternoon. But the Eagles have announced that Cooper will likely miss just six weeks, meaning he will be eligible to return around the start of the regular season.
And that means the addition of Plaxico Burress will not happen, despite Burress desperately wanting to play for Philadelphia.
Instead, the Eagles will let their young guys shine with Cooper out for the remainder of camp. This includes rookie sixth round draft pick Marvin McNutt, who is now a virtual lock to make the 53-man roster, as well as popular rookie free agent Damaris Johnson, the NCAA’s all-time leader in kick return yards and all-purpose yards for a career.
The next most likely candidate to earn a roster spot is veteran Chad Hall, who was the team’s fifth wide receiver in 2010 and sixth wide receiver in 2011, and also has experience as a returner (although he wasn’t particularly impressive in limited action).
There is no room on the Eagles for a fourth wide receiver like Plaxico Burress who cannot play special teams and has declined significantly over the past few seasons. If Burress was still a talented football player, he would have been pursued by at least one of the 32 NFL teams during the offseason. That’s really all that you need to know.
Besides, Cooper is expected to be back by the start of the season anyway.
This article was written by Bryn Swartz, the top writer for the Philadelphia Eagles and a featured NFL columnist on Rant Sports. Bryn has written more than 1000 articles in less than two years as a member of Rant Sports. His blog, Eagles Central, was named the 2010 Ballhyped Sports Blog of the Year. To read a portfolio of Bryn’s best work, click here.
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