With all the talk about where receiver Randy Moss may land, it’s easy to forget that there’s another high-profile player available via waivers today.
Linebacker Shawne Merriman, waived by the Chargers after passing a physical on Tuesday following placement earlier in the year on “minor” injured reserve, can be claimed by any team by 4:00 p.m. ET Wednesday. His rights will be awarded via the same priority list that applies to Moss.
And it’s not an either-or thing. Teams can put in claims for both players and, in theory, land both players.
Many assume that Merriman hasn’t been the same since serving a four-game suspension in 2006 for violating the steroids policy. But that’s not accurate. He had 8.5 sacks in five games after returning from suspension. In 2007, he racked up 12.5 sacks in 15 games.
The problem came in 2008, when Merriman played in only one game with a damaged PCL. Last year, as he fought to come back from the lost season, he had no sacks in 14 games, and a total of four sacks in two of them.
This year, he entered the season with injury issues and ultimately exited with a calf problem. If he’s truly back to 100 percent (an arguably big if), he could still be a contributor, somewhere.
We’ve joked about the Bills taking Moss -- we have a feeling that Buffalo is a strong candidate to claim Merriman.