Is Plaxico Burress Really Coming Back?

I was Glenn Harris' guest last night on Newschannel 8's "SportsTalk," a Washington institution. A caller asked if the Redskins would have any interest in Plaxico Burress if the former Giants receiver is granted a work release from prison soon for good behavior as The New York Post states could be in the works. Given the very shaky state of Washington's wideouts, I said that the Redskins had to look into signing the 6-foot-5 Burress, who won Super Bowl XLII with a last-minute touchdown catch and had tormented the burgundy and gold at times.

Burress, whose first appeal for early release was denied, applied again last Friday. But my buddy Ralph Vacchiano of The Daily News reports that Burress might not be leaving the slammer anytime soon. Burress' attorney, Peter Frankel, told The News that he's "hopeful" his client will be released in two to three weeks from the Oneida Correctional Facility in Rome, N.Y., where the receiver has been held since being convicted of weapons possession in September 2009, 10 months after infamously shooting himself in the thigh in a Manhattan nightclub.

However, a prison spokesman told The News that inmates who are put on work release usually spend the rest of their sentences performing community service in the Empire State. So Frankel, whose client's release isn't scheduled until June 6, told The News, "I don't see [a return to the NFL] happening in the short term."

Burress turns 33 a week from today and if he doesn't return to the field this year, he'll be 34 and two-plus years removed from the game in 2011, assuming a lockout doesn't ruin that season. Burress was also a headstrong type who chafed at some of Giants coach Tom Coughlin's strict discipline. He doesn't seem like a good fit for new Washington coach Mike Shanahan. But Redskins fans, frustrated over the longstanding failure of their receivers -- other than Santana Moss -- to produce, can still dream.