For the second day in a row, WR Plaxico Burress was nowhere to be found -- and had yet to talk to anyone in the Steelers organization of his whereabouts. Ed Bouchette writes an interesting article in today's Pittsburgh Post Gazette about how Burress's absence has given 2001 seventh round pick, WR Lee Mays a chance get more playing time.
Coming out of UTEP, Mays was considered raw, but he was always known as a burner. He credits Burress with helping him learn to run routes and he's improved his pass catching ability. And while he's not a Plax-like 6'5", he's still a big receiver at 6'2" 200 lbs.
I think the best thing for the Steelers is for Mays to do well. Not only does he benefit, the organization benefits, and maybe it will prod the Plax puppetmasters to get their client back to work. I can only guess that Plax isn't the mastermind behind this sit-out. I get the impression that if it were up to him he'd be in Pittsburgh. But it looks like someone convinced him that he can get Randy Moss type money by taking a hard line. Well, it won't work in Pittsburgh because they'll let him walk -- and if next year's free agent WRs experience anything close to what this years free agent QBs are experiencing, Plax will be hard pressed to find a team to give him an outrageous contract.
In fact, Pro Football Weekly reports the following:
The 2005 free-agent class includes some intriguing names, including Miami's Chris Chambers, Jerry Porter of the Raiders, Joey Galloway (Buccaneers), Marvin Harrison (Colts) and Quincy Morgan (Browns). The cost for placing the franchise designation on a wide receiver in 2004 was $7.229 million; the Steelers would be insane to commit that much money to Burress given his inconsistent play and lack of dependability.Second that. Maybe he is one of the top receivers in the NFL, but he hasn't proven it yet -- and it certainly won't prove it by sitting at home playing Xbox.
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