Former Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress will be released from prison and eligible to return to the NFL on June 6.
The New York state prison system announced today that the June 6 date has been set after officials decided that Burress is eligible for time off for good behavior. His time off will constitute one-seventh of his two-year sentence, or about three and a half months.
Burress has been in prison since 2009, when he pleaded guilty to illegally possessing a handgun in New York, following an incident when he accidentally shot himself in the leg at a nightclub late in the 2008 season.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has said Burress will be free to sign with any team as soon as he’s out of prison -- as long as there’s not a work stoppage preventing teams from signing players.
Burress may have a tough time find a team that wants him: Aside from character concerns, he’ll be rusty from almost three years away from football. And Burress, who turns 34 in August, was already showing signs of slowing down even before the nightclub incident: His yards-per-catch average declined every year from 2004 to 2008.
But Burress’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, says Burress will be healthy, in shape and ready to go for the 2011 season.