Gary Myers of the New York Daily News writes that he’s heard the Eagles will be first in line to talk to Plaxico Burress (who gets out of prison June 6) whenever the lockout ends. Do we even want to mess with this concept?
It’s such an easy snow-bird of an article, I couldn’t resist…
Locked down in the slowest part of the NFL off-season, on a sleepy Sunday night, I fell to the temptation…
As Gary Myers himself admits, “The biggest question regarding Burress remains whether he’ll be in good shape and able to shake off the rust well enough to contribute to an NFL team in 2011, especially considering that he might have a shortened training camp to prepare… Burress turns 34 in August, he hasn’t played football since November of 2008, and his production had already begun to decline even before he accidentally put a bullet in his leg and put his career on hold.”
Fan reaction to the concept has varied, from “The Birds desperately need a big target in the redzone…” to “Love the fact he could be in Eagles Green two times a year against the G-men…. I’m all for second chances, and the fact he has killed us in the past doesn’t hurt . Hoping this comes true..”
The question is where and when would Burress play? Clearly DJax and Maclin are the starters. Jason Avant is a very nice third receiver…although a few dropped passes in key situations last season may leave Avant open to challenge in certain circumstantial situations.
In my opinion, the only reason you sign Burress is because the Eagles redzone offense ( I call it “the pink zone”) has suffered in recent years. Plaxico is the big target that we have lacked. He is the type of WR to whom you just throw the ball up there in a catchable zone and he goes after it. We haven’t had one of those type-cast guys in a long, long time…someone that can go up for the jump ball with a high percentage of success in the endzone. We could use that type of receiver. It just may not be Plaxico, however, due to a number of factors— age, physical conditioning, and the mental fitness necessary to be a situational role player on a team that already has its “Gold Standard” set…
And then there’s the inevitable fan jokes to be tolerated at Plaxico’s expense… such as, “The combo of Vick to Burrress will be known as
“Con Air”…”
Do we really need to go through that?
This was probably just a garbage piece by The New York Daily News to fill the lockout void. Mike Vick might reach out to Burress, but there’s very litttle chance he winds up in Philly with DJax, Maclin, Avant, and Cooper.
Even if he does, it will only be worth a one-year, low money deal…and what good in the long run would that accomplish? Burress can’t even contribute on special teams…so you’re tying up a roster spot in more ways than one if you sign him.
In the end of the debate, I vote “PASS” on signing Plaxico… which in true Lurie tradition leaves the door open to two different conclusions…
LEARNING THE COMPASSIONATE SIDE OF KURT COLEMAN…
You may already know this inspirational story about Kurt Coleman, the up-and-coming safety for the Eagles entering his second year… I just found it out today: Coleman played college football at Ohio State. At a spring practice during his freshman year, Coleman tackled wide receiver Tyson Gentry…and Gentry suffered a broken neck and became paralyzed. Coleman almost quit the football team before Gentry had forgiven him during a hospital visit…and urged him to keep playing.
RUNNING THE NUMBERS ON EAGLES EYE…
Per the directive of GK Brizer, our esteemed Chairman of the Bored, I’d like to show you the impact on the ratings here at Eagles Eye since the GK survived the implosion of PE.com’s old “On The Inside” format and directed us all to park “here” for a while…
Since March 31, 2011, Quantcast audience ratings for Eagles Eye have increased on a very steep curve from 2000 page views a month to close to 11,000… and the flow of audience from the old OTI site to the refugee camp here has been the difference.
That’s an amazing increase of audience and page views since March 31, 2011, when the old PE.com OTI “Pub” blew up in our faces… and a testimony to the brilliant resilience of the smartest Eagles fan posters on da Earf. Thank you to our Austin Sage, JB99, as well, whose endorsement for Iggles fans to find their way here has meant a ton of credibility.
Most of all, thanks to the guys who post here. We may all be reunited at PE.com sooner than later as Dave Spadaro revamps his NFL.com vehicle…but this site will always remain a free-speech rest stop for dedicated Eagles posters of the highest intelligence.
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