It's been a few weeks since we had an update on the status of Shaun Alexander around here, so I figured it was time for yet another.
A few weeks back, Shaun took official visits to the Cincinnati Bengals and the New Orleans Saints. Both teams have depth concerns at tailback -- Rudi Johnson had a year that was even worse than Alexander's, and he is getting old, and with the Saints it seems that Deuce will be cut -- and brought Shaun in. Unfortunately, those guys weren't too impressed, because neither club offered Shaun a contract.
The Broncos were also thought to be a possibility because of the continuing troubles of former Tennessee tailback Travis Henry, but that one did not pan out either. It was announced yesterday that the Broncos had signed free agent tailback Michael Pittman -- formerly of the Bucs -- and that will complete their off-season at tailback.
Unfortunately, things don't look very good for Shaun at the moment. No one in the league believes he can be an every-down back any more, and considering his shortcomings as both a receiver out of the backfield and a pass blocker, a lot of teams are turned off at the thought of adding him as a second string back because second string backs are largely required to do those two very things.
The three aforementioned teams were all viable candidates for Shaun's services, but they are now out of the running, as are several other teams that chose to upgrade the tailback position via the 2008 NFL Draft. Shaun will likely catch on with someone somewhere for the league minimum, but it does not seem that anything is imminent, and at the very best he is likely going to be a back-up player who will probably have to fight hard just to secure a roster spot during training camp.
A few weeks back, Shaun took official visits to the Cincinnati Bengals and the New Orleans Saints. Both teams have depth concerns at tailback -- Rudi Johnson had a year that was even worse than Alexander's, and he is getting old, and with the Saints it seems that Deuce will be cut -- and brought Shaun in. Unfortunately, those guys weren't too impressed, because neither club offered Shaun a contract.
The Broncos were also thought to be a possibility because of the continuing troubles of former Tennessee tailback Travis Henry, but that one did not pan out either. It was announced yesterday that the Broncos had signed free agent tailback Michael Pittman -- formerly of the Bucs -- and that will complete their off-season at tailback.
Unfortunately, things don't look very good for Shaun at the moment. No one in the league believes he can be an every-down back any more, and considering his shortcomings as both a receiver out of the backfield and a pass blocker, a lot of teams are turned off at the thought of adding him as a second string back because second string backs are largely required to do those two very things.
The three aforementioned teams were all viable candidates for Shaun's services, but they are now out of the running, as are several other teams that chose to upgrade the tailback position via the 2008 NFL Draft. Shaun will likely catch on with someone somewhere for the league minimum, but it does not seem that anything is imminent, and at the very best he is likely going to be a back-up player who will probably have to fight hard just to secure a roster spot during training camp.
