Burress signs one-year contract with Jets has 0 comments

Jul 31st 2011, 19:15 | FFN-Score: 28 points

The former Super Bowl star with the Giants, recently released from prison after serving 20 months on a gun charge, reached an agreement in principle Sunday on a one-year deal with the Jets.

Burress, who turns 34 on Aug. 12, caught the game-winning touchdown in the Giants' upset of the unbeaten New England Patriots in the 2008 Super Bowl, before his career derailed after he accidentally shot himself in a New York nightclub in 2009.

His second chance at the NFL comes with a team that was interested in him a few years ago before he went to prison. Now, he'll likely join the recently re-signed Santonio Holmes as Mark Sanchez's top receivers. The Jets' need for an additional wide receiver became apparent Saturday, when the New York Daily News reported that the team did not have the salary-cap space for Braylon Edwards after extending a five-year deal worth almost $50 million, including $24 million guaranteed, to Holmes.

Burress met with the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he spent his first five seasons, on Saturday. Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was chief among those hoping to land the soon-to-be 34-year-old. He spoke to Burress several times after the receiver's release from prison in June after serving 20 months on a gun charge.

On Friday, Burress met with Giants head coach Tom Coughlin in a face-to-face meeting that lasted nearly 90 minutes at Giants headquarters in East Rutherford, N.J., on the first day of training camp. He then spent 15 minutes each with president John Mara and general manager Jerry Reese. The Giants asked Coughlin to talk with Burress.

"What I have to hear is sincerity," Coughlin said late Friday afternoon, roughly two hours before the scheduled meeting, the first between the two since the soon-to-be 34-year-old receiver and Super Bowl XLII hero was imprisoned for almost two years on a weapons possessions charge.

Burress mentioned he would be interested in playing for several teams, including the Jets -- and didn't even need to meet with general manager Mike Tannenbaum and coach Rex Ryan to make his decision.


The deal, reportedly worth $3.017 million fully guaranteed, is meant to match's Burress' jersey number 17, the New York Daily News reported.

Because of the NFL post-lockout rules, Burress can't practice with the team until Thursday. But clearly, the Jets were confident the former Pro Bowl receiver has a lot left as they try for a Super Bowl run. Burress gives Sanchez a big receiver -- he's 6-foot-5 -- to complement Holmes, Jerricho Cotchery, Dustin Keller and a solid running game with Shonn Greene and LaDainian Tomlinson.

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 move softens the blow for the Jets after losing out on getting cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, who was New York's top priority after re-signing Holmes. But Asomugha surprisingly signed with Philadelphia, and the Jets were forced to turn their attention elsewhere.

Burress wrote on his Twitter page: "East Coast here I come!"