Plaxico Burress and NFL Free Agents Still Worth the Investment

By this Sunday, all 32 NFL teams will have opened training camp. For free agents, that reality means the clock is ticking on their respective job searches for the start of the 2012 season. 

While some free agents won't find a home in time, others are still well worth the minimal investment it will take to secure their services. 

In the following slides, we look at five players who are worth taking a flier on as training camps open up.

RB Cedric Benson

Benson is approaching 30 years old and doesn't exactly have game-breaking running skills. However, what you get in the former Cincinnati Bengals back is a dependable guy, who doesn't miss many games and will produce when given the chance. 

The one wonder you have is if Benson has priced himself out of a job. It doesn't appear as if he's comfortable taking a veteran's minimum deal, but that might be the only way he's playing on an NFL roster in 2012. 

For teams like the Oakland Raiders, Seattle Seahawks, New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers, Benson might be worth a no-risk look in camp. However, Benson thinking he's going to find much more than a minimum deal is probably too optimistic. 

WR Plaxico Burress

There are obvious concerns with Burress, including age, lack of separation skills and a checkered past. However, there's also enough reasons for a team to give him a try—almost risk free, mind you—in training camp. 

At 6'5" and 230 pounds, Burress remains one of the best red-zone threats in football. Teams are always trying to get better inside the 20-yard line, which is why it's somewhat puzzling that Burress is still on the open market. 

It's also possible that Burress is pricing himself out of a job, too. For a minimum deal, however, he makes sense for a lot of clubs. 

WR Braylon Edwards

Edwards brings a lot of the same red-zone attributes as Burress, but I think you're getting a more complete package here. 

Edwards is still on the right side of 30, has produced when healthy (even with Mark Sanchez in New York) and probably can't wait to wash the taste of 2011 out of his mouth. 

Maybe this long wait on the open market has knocked some of the diva out of him, too. For the right price, what's the risk in seeing what he has in the tank during camp?

DE Andre Carter

More often than not, pass-rushers with 10 or more sacks from the season before are off the open market fairly quickly.

While Carter did finish 2011 with 10 sacks, a torn quad has kept him off team radars during free agency.

That quad is slowly healing, however, and Carter should be available for the start of the 2012 season. Teams in need of a pass rush could look his direction as camp wears on. 

The New England Patriots remain the overwhelming favorite to retain Carter once he's healthy, but Bill Belichick and company may look away if his rookies on the defensive side can stand out in camp.

If that's the case, a wide range of teams may open up for Carter's services. 

RB Ryan Grant

Grant hasn't been the same 1,200-yard back he was in 2008-09 in some time, but part of his decline was kick-started by an ankle injury that cost him all but one half of one game in 2010.

In 2011, he was sharing time with James Starks. 

That being said, I still struggle to see how Grant hasn't attracted more interest this offseason. He was far and away the Packers' best back in the second half of 2011. He even showed, on a number of occasions, that the one-cut-and-go burst was still there. 

Grant really only has four full years of play on running-back tires, too. There's life left in his legs.

If he's not on a team by the start of the 2012 season, or at least given a chance to stick somewhere during camp, I'd be shocked.