Agent Drew Rosenhaus shopping WR Burress

[February 13, 2009]  NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- Plaxico Burress seemingly wants to leave the New York Giants.

Drew Rosenhaus, the agent for the troubled receiver, sent an e-mail to the NFL's teams earlier this week letting them know that Burress was one of his three clients who wants to be traded, an NFL executive told The Associated Press on Thursday. The person requested anonymity because the e-mail was supposed to remain private.

The Star-Ledger of Newark was the first to have the story, reporting in its Wednesday editions that Rosenhaus' initial e-mail to the teams said that Burress could be acquired through a trade.

However, the NFL executive who asked not to be identified because he had to deal with Rosenhaus, said the initial e-mail said that the agent had three "players DESIRING a trade."

The other two players are Anquan Boldin of the NFC champion Arizona Cardinals and Chad Johnson of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Arizona general manager Rod Graves did not return a telephone call left by The Associated Press at his office.

Giants general manager Jerry Reese refused to comment.

Rosenhaus did not return two telephone calls and an e-mail seeking comment.

Burress' future has been in limbo since he shot himself in the right thigh at a New York City nightclub in late November. He was charged with felony gun possession and is due in court March 31. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 3 1/2 years in prison.

The 31-year-old also faces a possible suspension by the NFL for violating its personal conduct policy.

The Giants, who signed Burress to a five-year, $35 million contract in September, have left the door open for Burress to return.

An unidentified source told the Star-Ledger that Rosenhaus did not have the Giants' permission to solicit trade inquiries, and that the Giants were furious when they learned about the e-mail.

The report said assistant general manager Kevin Abrams informed the other clubs that Rosenhaus was not acting on behalf of the Giants.

Rosenhaus eventually sent out a second e-mail admitting as much, the newspaper reported.

The NFL Players Association has filed two grievances against the Giants on behalf of Burress, who caught the game-winning touchdown pass in the Giants' Super Bowl win a year ago against New England.

The team withheld a $1 million portion of a signing bonus after suspending Burress for the final four weeks of the season for conduct detrimental to the team in the wake of the shooting.

The union filed briefs on that grievance with Special Master Stephen B. Burbank of Philadelphia last week.

The other grievance involves an attempt to recover fines and lost wages resulting from his suspension, and to protect Burress' potential future earnings.

[Associated Press; By TOM CANAVAN]

Associated Press Sports Writers Dave Campbell in Minneapolis, Jaime Aron in Dallas and John Wawrow in Buffalo, N.Y., contributed to this report.

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