Sunday, July 31, 2011

Plaxico Burress agrees to contract terms with New York Jets



Plaxico Burress has agreed to contract terms with the New York Jets, according to multiple media reports.

ESPN first reported Burress has agreed to a one-year deal for just over $3 million, fully guaranteed. Because of the NFL post-lockout rules, Burress can't practice with the team until Thursday.

Burress was in Los Angeles on his way to a meeting with the San Francisco 49ers, ESPN reported, but canceled that trip when the Jets contacted him.

Signing with the Jets makes sense for Burress for several reasons. He can resume his career while staying in the New York area, and the Jets have a need at wide receiver, after deciding not to re-sign Braylon Edwards, and losing Brad Smith to the Bills in free agency.

Burress has been out of the NFL for two seasons after serving 20 months in prison on an unlicensed gun charge. The biggest question will be if Burress, who turns 34 years old on Aug. 12, can return to being an elite wide receiver after such an extended absence. He drew plenty of interest once free agency began, and visited with the Giants and Steelers before deciding to sign with the Jets.

Burress should be highly motivated to prove he can still play, and that he can stay out of trouble. And the Jets hope to be the beneficiaries.

Now, Burress will likely join the recently re-signed Santonio Holmes as Mark Sanchez's top receivers.

Burress wrote on his Twitter page: "East Coast here I come!" Sanchez retweeted his new receiver and added: "Paperwork in hand??? Haha welcome to the squad."

Burress has 505 catches for 7,845 yards and 55 touchdowns in his NFL career with the Steelers and Giants.

He caught 35 passes for 698 yards and five touchdowns in his final year with Pittsburgh in 2004 as the Steelers slowly broke in Ben Roethlisberger, a rookie at the time. Burress moved on to New York, where he thrived catching balls from Eli Manning, but often ran into trouble with Coughlin.

— The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Read more: http://aol.sportingnews.com/nfl/story/2011-07-31/plaxico-burress-agrees-to-contract-terms-with-new-york-jets?icid=main%7Chtmlws-main-n%7Cdl3%7Csec1_lnk1%7C220596#ixzz1TixnbJJB

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