Plaxico Burress was released from the Oneida Correctional Facility on Monday morning after spending over 20 months in prison. Agent Drew Rosenhaus, who was wearing a throwback Phillies hat and gave a brief statement to the media before heading to a reunion with his family, apparently greeted Burress when he got out.

Burress will now fly to Florida and start training in hopes that a NFL team will give him another shot. At 33, it’ll be tough for him to find a gig but the Rams, Jets and Eagles have all been mentioned as potential landing spots. His best attributes are his size (6’5”, 232 pounds) and his ability to win matchups with shorter defensive backs in the red zone. But he’s never been a burner and thus, he’ll have to go to a situation where a team already has a pair of good receivers on the outside. (Thus, the Rams might not be the best fit.)

Even though many observers remain skeptical that a team will give him a shot, Burress should draw some interest. NFL teams aren’t going to turn away talent and if he still has something left in the tank, his phone will ring when the lockout is lifted.

Plaxico Burress has officially been indicted by a New York grand jury on charges of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, according to the New York Times. His former teammate with the Giants, Antonio Pierce, was not indicted.

Mr. Burress was indicted on two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, and one count of reckless endangerment in the second degree.

Each of the weapons counts carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 3½ years, and a maximum sentence of 15 years, in state prison. The charge of reckless endangerment carries a maximum sentence of 1 year in jail.

The New York City District Attorney is pushing for Burress to serve at least two years in prison, although Plax’s attorney is hoping that his client will only serve a max of one. The question now becomes whether or not Burress will be suspended this season and if so, for how long.

According to a report by ESPN.com, Plaxico Burress was willing to spend a year in jail for carrying an unlicensed gun into a bar last November, then subsequently shooting himself in the leg with it. But prosecutors in his case want him to spend at least two years in the slammer.

Manhattan’s district attorney says he wants Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress to serve time in prison, the New York Post has reported.

Robert Morgenthau told the newspaper that Burress, who shot himself with an unlicensed gun in November, was willing to agree to spend a year in jail, but prosecutors insisted on two, the Post said.

“We’ve always taken the position that he’s going to have to go to jail, whether by trial or by plea,” Morgenthau told the Post for a story in Monday’s edition.

Burress shot himself in the thigh at a nightclub early on the morning of Nov. 29. He was charged with criminal possession of a weapon and faces up to 3½ years in prison. Burress has pleaded not guilty and is free on $100,000 bail.
His attorney, Benjamin Brafman, told the Post he was “bitterly disappointed.”

“Now that they have drawn a line in the sand, this is going to be a battle,” Brafman said.

Brafman is “bitterly disappointed” that his client could potentially serve two years in prison instead of one? I might be misinterpreting the gun laws in New York, but isn’t carrying a loaded, unlicensed weapon a maximum prison sentence of 15 years? If Burress only spends two years in jail, that’s still a freaking slap on the wrist compared to what he could have served.

If Joe Schmoe does the same thing, how many years in prison is he getting?

According to a report by ESPN.com, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has told Plaxico Burress that he’ll begin the reviewing incidents (i.e. shooting yourself in the leg with your own gun because you decided to secure it in the waist band of your sweat pants) involving Burress that fall under the personal conduct policy.

Burress, who shot himself in the thigh Nov. 29 in a Manhattan nightclub, was charged with criminal possession of a weapon and faces up to 3½ years in prison.

He made a brief appearance in court Monday where Judge Felicia Mennin adjourned the case until Sept. 23, enabling the former Giants receiver to continue negotiations with several NFL teams in hopes of returning to the field in 2009.

Goodell had been waiting for the legal process to be complete, but as it is delayed with no clear indication of when it will be concluded, the commissioner decided to take the initiative, league sources said.

ESPN’s very own Chris Mortensen believes that Burress will be suspended at least four games, which seems realistic.

In a related topic, Burress’ agent Drew Rosenhaus now says that there are five teams interested in his client’s services. The Jets, Bucs and Bears are the only reported teams that are interested in Burress, so that leaves two unidentified squads. But I’m sure Rosenhaus will dream up more teams as the weeks go on.

Bears quarterback Jay Cutler made some comments recently at a football camp about his former Bronco teammate Brandon Marshall and now several media outlets are trying to drum up the idea that Cutler is campaigning for Chicago to trade for the wideout.

This is what Cutler said:

“I played with Brandon for three years and I think he’s one of the best receivers in the NFL. I think he can be one of the greatest ever to play.

“He’s big and fast, and can do everything you want him to do, on the field and in the meeting room. I don’t know what we’re going to do. That’s up to the guys upstairs. If we make a run at him, we make a run at him.”

Cutler also made it clear that he has a lot of faith in current Chicago receiver Devin Hester:

“I’ve watched every game from last year and seen him in action quite a bit,” Cutler said. “It’s a tough transition from (defensive back) to receiver. He’s still learning, but overall I can’t be happier with how we’re working together and his progression.

“I think he’s definitely a legitimate No. 1 receiver in the NFL.”

That’s it – that’s what Jay said. To me, that’s not Cutler campaigning for Chicago to make a play for Marshall – that’s Cutler stating that Marshall is a great receiver and if the Bears do make a move for him, then so be it.

But even if Cutler were making a case for his new team to trade for his old teammate, it wouldn’t matter because Marshall isn’t going to Chicago. The Bears simply don’t have enough trade pieces to send to Denver because they already traded away two first round picks to acquire Cutler. So unless the Bears would be willing to give up linebacker Brian Urlacher or another veteran of his ilk, then Marshall is headed for another destination other than the “Windy City.”

Furthermore, Chicago GM Jerry Angelo has already stated that the Bears won’t go after Marshall. Sure, he could change his mind. But it would seem at this point that Plaxico Burress is more of an option for the Bears than Marshall is given that Burress would require no compensation to acquire and the team could simply dump him at the end of ’09 assuming they sign him to only a one-year deal. (Theoretically, the Bears could do the same for Marshall because he’ll be a free agent after 2009 too, but why trade for him if you’re not going to sign him to a long-term deal?)

The media is trying hard to make story here, but there isn’t one at this point. There are no signs that Marshall is going to Chicago.

According to the St. Petersburg Times, Plaxico Burress has expressed interest in joining the Buccaneers in 2009. He has already reached out to former teammate Derrick Ward and has also spoken with Antonio Bryant about possibly joining the Bucs (not that either of those players have any bearing on whether or not the team will sign Burress).

If Tampa wants to take the risk on the leg shooter, then they’d have a decent amount of weapons on offense in Plax, Bryant and tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. Of course, the three would also make one hell of a combustible combination and any one of them would be liable to cause a distraction at a moment’s notice.

Some believe that the Bears also remain interested in Burress, but I can’t see GM Jerry Angelo pulling the trigger (pun definitely intended) on a move like that. If Chicago wanted to add a pain in the ass wide receiver to its roster, why not trade for Brandon Marshall (assuming they even have enough trade pieces to make a dal) and pair him with Jay Cutler?

Either way, it’s looking more and more than Burress will play next season. His trial case has been adjourned until September, which means he could still play in 2009, although there’s still a good chance the NFL will suspend him, too.

Plaxico Burress’ gun case has been pushed back to September according to a report by the New York Daily News.

The former New York Giants receiver will appear in court Monday on gun charges – but the case will be delayed because his lawyer has been unable to make a deal with prosecutors.

“There is no agreement at all,” Burress’ lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, told the Daily News.
The lawyer said the lanky wide receiver hopes to get the case put off until September – which may mean he could play in the upcoming season.

“We’ll be in and out of court in five minutes,” Brafman said. “There is going to be an adjournment.”
Sources say the district attorney’s office is insisting on jail time in the case – which could kill the 31 year old’s hopes of returning to the football field.

If he were to play this season, I doubt any team would give him more than a one-year deal. How could they when he might wind up in prison sometime in 2010?

If he does play, the Jets, Bucs and Bears are the three teams reportedly most interested in Plax. In the end, the Jets might make the biggest push seeing as how they lost Laveranues Coles this offseason and have lacked a true deep threat since Santana Moss. Jerricho Cotchery is underrated, but he would definitely benefit from having another receiver opposite him in the offense.

Now it’s just a matter of whether or not any team will take a chance on Burress.