Cowboys, Steelers keeping tabs on Burress
The early performance of Terrell Owens in Seattle, and the solid reports on older wideouts like Randy Moss in San Francisco and Miami's potty-mouthed Chad Ochocinco/Johnson (anyone see the opening episode of "Hard Knocks," in which Dolphins first-year coach Joe Philbin cautioned Johnson for dropping the F-bomb so much during a news conference?), might hasten the return of Plaxico Burress to someone's camp.
Maybe.
Despite the he-said/she-said reports from Dallas, the Cowboys have discussed internally the potential for adding Burress at some point, but want to give things another week or two and provide some young pass-catchers an opportunity before they summon Burress.
In Pittsburgh, where Mike Wallace's continued absence has left the Steelers precariously thin at the position, the club seems to be leaning more toward keeping an eye on the waiver wire than on Burress. That's not to suggest the Steelers have ruled out Burress, who turned down an opportunity to rejoin his original NFL team last year, but that general manager Kevin Colbert and coach Mike Tomlin will closely monitor guys who have been in training camp and could get released.
Burress, who turns 35 on Sunday, remains an effective red-zone receiver. Thirty-five of his career 63 touchdowns, including all but one of his eight scores in 2011, came in the red zone. There is some perception in the league that Burress has some problems separating from coverage, but he still has great size, long arms and leaping ability.
Whether that translates into a guy who can help a team as something more than a red zone specialist remains to be seen.
