Rosenhaus: Five Teams Like Plaxico; Goodell: Not So Fast

The questions remain unresolved -- will Plaxico Burress play football in 2009, and if so, where?

There's a lot of information about Plaxico Burress rumbling around Twitter this evening. As is so often the case in Twitterville, there are some shades of gray regarding how much of it is true and/or meaningful.

What is true is that commissioner Roger Goodell has initiated a review of Burress' self-shooting incident under the NFL's personal conduct policy. This information came courtesy of the Twitter account of Brian McCarthy (NFLprguy) at the league office, and it came about 35 minutes or so after Burress' agent, Drew Rosenhaus (RosenhausSports), tweeted that "There are now 5 teams interested in Plaxico. I expect more teams to enter the mix over the next few weeks as well."

The question is to what extent the Goodell news impacts the Rosenhaus spin.

If we assume that Rosenhaus is telling the truth ... well, then we're all idiots. But we do know that the Jets, Buccaneers and Bears have all shown some degree of interest in the former Giants receiver, so it's possible that interest has expanded and will continue to expand beyond that threesome. But if Goodell is reviewing the incident, that means Burress could end up being suspended. And it's doubtful any team will want to sign him before they know whether and for how long that will be.

According to the league's personal conduct policy:

"Discipline may take the form of fines, suspension or banishment from the League and may include a probationary period and conditions that must be satisfied prior to or following reinstatement. The specifics of the disciplinary response will be based on the nature of the incident, the actual or threatened risk to the participant and others, any prior or additional misconduct (whether or not criminal charges were filed), and other relevant factors.

Unless the case involves significant bodily harm, a first offense will generally not result in discipline until there has been a disposition of the proceeding (or until the investigation is complete in the case of employee or workplace misconduct."

So yeah. That clears it up.

But let's say, for example, Goodell suspends Burress for four games. That's not likely to dampen teams' interest in him. He's good enough that having him for 12 games would be worth it. It would certainly, however, impact the amount of money teams are interested in paying him, which is why it's in Rosenhaus' best interest to drum up the appearance of multiple-team interest, whether it exists or not.

Bottom line, it's hard to imagine anybody signing Burress until Goodell makes a decision on his case. The good news for interested teams is that it now appears Goodell will make such a decision before the resolution of Burress' twice-delayed court proceeding. His next court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 23.