On Saturday, free-agent receiver Hakeem Nicks sent, via his agents, letters to all teams from Dr. Robert Anderson and Dr. James Andrews explaining that Nicks’ foot and knee, respectively, are fine.
As one league source explains it to PFT, teams aren’t worried about Nicks’ foot or knee or any other part of his body. Teams are concerned about the thing propped on his neck.
While Nicks’ performances over the past two years can be attributed to injury, the concern isn’t whether he still can play. The concern is whether he truly still wants to play, at a high level.
Whether it’s a desire to be paid a lot of money or concern about injury or interest in doing things other than playing football, the concern is that Nicks lacks the motivation to perform like he did earlier in his career.
It remains to be seen whether those concerns are legitimate. And Nicks’ reported willingness to do a one-year deal suggests that someone has successfully communicated to him that he won’t simply be handed a huge pile of money for accomplishments from 2011 and earlier.
With plenty of receivers available in free agency and a healthy complement of incoming rookies at the position, Nicks’ best and only play may be a one-year deal that allows him to show that he’s still the guy who once seem destined for the big payday that won’t be coming in 2014.