earl Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 http://www.profootballtalk.com/rumormill.htm BURRESS BURNING BRIDGES IN THE 'BURGH? Little more than a week after skipping a mandatory minicamp based on an alleged desire to be with his brothers on Mother's Day, Steelers receiver Plaxico Burress was the team's only no-show for voluntary drills that began on Tuesday -- and he likely is setting the stage either for a trade or a decision by the team not to re-sign him after his contract expires in January. At least one of his teammates is unhappy with Burress's stance. "I don't know if he is alive, dead or what the situation is," receiver Hines Ward said, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "If that's his excuse, Mother's Day, if that's what's he's saying, we have to abide by it," Ward said. "What's the reasoning now? I don't know. I'm clueless . . . . I thought he was going to be here." Teammate Jerome Bettis took a different view. "If he wasn't here for the first game, it would be a problem," Bettis said. "For right now, it's not a problem. Sometimes people go through some things and you have to give them a chance to sort it out. I think it would be wrong if we judged him right now without knowing what's going on." Burress called the team "inconsiderate" for scheduling the mandatory minicamp on Mother's Day weekend, but some folks thought Burress's absence was actually related to displeasure with his contract, which expires after the 2004 season. His absence from voluntary workouts suggests that perhaps his excuse for missing the mandatory minicamp was less than truthful. Our guess is that there will continue to be calls from some corners of the front office to get value for Burress now, before 2005 rolls around and the team gets nothing in return when he leaves via free agency. The problem, however, is that coach Bill Cowher is operating for the first time ever under a deal with only two years remaining, which previously has prompted speculation that he might not be around in 2005 if the team doesn't win in 2004. So, as a practical matter, Cowher would have no desire to give up a highly talented (albeit at times underachieving) receiver, unless the team could land a solid contributor in return. Enter Packers cornerback Mike McKenzie. In our view, the Steelers should be drooling at the possibility of shipping Burress to Green Bay for the disgruntled corner. The only problem, however, is that the Packers' receiving corps of Donald Driver, Javon Walker, and Robert Ferguson made great strides in 2003, making Burress less than a necessity for the Pack. Also, if Burress isn't happy with his contract, any team that requires him in trade surely will need to work out a new deal in order to persuade him to happily join the fold. In all, it's a bad situation for Burress, and our guess is that it will get worse before it gets better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
@DCGoldPants Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 oh man. Send them Gardner and Trotter for Burress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brooklynskinsfan Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 Send them Gardner and Trotter for Burress. i agree when burres plays hard hes a monster 6"5 and the same age as gardner anyway he is more shure handed and would compliment coles well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The X-Factor Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 Do we really watn Burress? Sure he's the biggest receiver in the NFL, but he is very inconsistent. He might have the edge over Gardner by a very slight margin. Plus I think his conract is running out after this year and there is no gurantee that he will re-sign. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrfriedm Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 Originally posted by Bufford 3.3 oh man. Send them Gardner and Trotter for Burress. Good thought but wrong direction. Send the Gardner and Trotter for some D-line help. Thats what we need. We have plenty of depth at WR. Besides Burress, is already causing problems in Pitt. we don't need him to do that here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brooklynskinsfan Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 i think his production depends on the situatiom he is in they year pitsburg was in the playoffs he was looking unstopable when pittsburg is not that good he semms unfocised he is proboly not a gibbs type player but i think if he came in with the right atitude he could be amazing with some good coaching i think he has a lot more upside then gardner im not saying gardner cant be a 1,000 yard reciever every year im just saying burris can be unstopable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
@DCGoldPants Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 The Steelers had no D last year. At 1st, I would just send them Rod for draft picks next year. Attach Trotter to the trade for ****z and giggles. But, Coles is our #1. Nobody doubts that. Plaxico could be bigger than Curly Fries as a #2 in this system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fwo40 Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 Burress = David Boston Intriguing physical size. Too many plays off....Too many headaches. No way we take him. No way we should. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrfriedm Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 Originally posted by Bufford 3.3 The Steelers had no D last year. At 1st, I would just send them Rod for draft picks next year. Attach Trotter to the trade for ****z and giggles. But, Coles is our #1. Nobody doubts that. Plaxico could be bigger than Curly Fries as a #2 in this system. I was just making a point that we need more D-line help than we need WR. I'm sure that Burress is a better player than Gardner, but I think he is more of a headache, and Gardner is already a big enough headache. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chachie Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 Plaxico Burress would be a scha-weet aquisition for any team. I think he suffers from playing in the shadow of Hines Ward. However, we need to give Rod Gardner a chance in Joe Gibbs' offense. He earned this chance by throwing a TD pass last season. I mean, c'mon-- try to remember how badly we needed that game, no matter HOW the season went after that day. This town wanted to vote him in as mayor, me included. Let's leave Rod Gardner alone for a bit. Playing under Spurrier and catching balls from washed-up ex-gators, Tony Banks, and Jeff George has been bad enough. If he can't improve under this system with these QBs, THEN he should be traded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yomar Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 Think Cowher is kicking himself for passing on Pennington? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reaganaut Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 I'd rather have Gardner than Plexiglass Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard Washington Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 plaxico is a dominant player. i would love to see him come home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KirkNC Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 Given Rods two years left on a friendly deal I would lood at that trade only if Pitt threw in a mid round pick. That said Buress would excel here in my opinion. Buress strength is down field, last year the Pitt o line and Maddox just sucked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renegade7 Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 Originally posted by Reaganaut I'd rather have Gardner than Plexiglass Plexiglass? No offense but what do you mean by that? http://nfl.com/players/playerpage/187385 He missed four games in his rookie season and that's it. Either way, I'm still cool with Gardner being here. Noit sure I want to get rid of him because he shows a lot of potential with that talent of his and our great coaching staff. Add that with a deep WR roster and Coles who's going to get double team regularly, he's gonna bust a move this year, watch. Poof, and I'm gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
method man Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 no guys... lets trade ramsey to the steelers for burress and gardner can be our QB of the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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