How much have things changed since Plaxico Burress went to prison on weapons charges two years ago?
Back then Burress was the one shooting himself in the thigh and now it is the entire NFL shooting itself in the foot.
Don't expect to see Roger Goodell do any time, even though the decisions made by him and the owners are actually impacting a lot more people via pay cuts and furloughs than Burress did when he made the ill-advised decision to tuck a gun inside the waistband of his sweatpants.
We've debated the fairness of Burress's sentence enough, though. Now that he's done his time, the question worth talking about is the one that asks where he will be playing when and if the NFL ever decides to get back in the football business instead of keeping lawyers in their finery.
There appear to be plenty of options for Burress, but one of them probably isn't the team he left high and dry back in 2008. Even though Eli Manning's accuracy issues suddenly became acute when he didn't have Burress to go up and get his passes, the Giants aren't a likely landing spot.
Brandon Jacobs isn't the guy making the ultimate decision on that front, but the receiver summed things up pretty well when he was asked about his old teammate on Thursday.
"There is no chance Plaxico Burress is a New York Giant after he comes out,” Jacobs said. “None."
The only addendum to offer to that point is that he's still got a better chance of being a Giant than Tiki Barber. But so does Paris Hilton so that isn't really saying all that much.
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Jacobs predicted Plax would wind up somewhere close by, however. There's been plenty of talk of Burress signing with the Eagles and that's where Jacobs believes he'll be playing.
The move makes some sense. The Eagles have obviously reaped the rewards of taking a chance on players coming out of the pokey and their talented but undersized receiving corps could use a red zone target like Burress.
Given the uncertainty around the league right now, however, it would be silly to consider this a done deal. There are other places where Burress could play.
Jets: They are almost certainly going to be in the receiver market with Randy Moss rumors popping up much too frequently to be ignored. Burress is probably best served by getting out of New York, though.
Rams: Coach Steve Spagnuolo was with the Giants when Plax helped them win a Super Bowl and they have little in the way of receivers. What's more, Josh McDaniels will be running the offense and he ran the Patriots show when Moss was the most dangerous receiver in football.
Plax is older and a different player, obviously, but giving Sam Bradford a real weapon would surely jumpstart the young quarterback's growth curve. Consider them a solid backup choice to the Eagles.
Steelers: Plax's other former team has been mentioned, but they seem like a long shot. There's not much need in Steel City for a wideout right now and if they do look for one it should be with designs on replacing Hines Ward when he dances off to other pursuits.
Dolphins, Buccaneers, Jaguars: Burress's family has been living in Florida, but none of the state's teams really make sense. Brandon Marshall is headache enough in Miami, Tampa is building around youth and the Jaguars probably aren't close enough to the playoffs to make a move like the one we're discussing.
Thanks to the NFL's policy of strangling the life out of the sport, we'll have plenty of time to discuss what uniform Burress is going to put on once he's out of his orange jumpsuit. Whatever color it is, we're sure he'll consider it a huge improvement.
Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City. You can follow him on Twitter and he is also a contributor to Pro Football Talk.
