The meaty part of free agency came and went without any team signing Santonio Holmes or even showing the slightest bit of interest in signing him, but the former Steelers and Jets wide receiver thinks he’ll get a call from someone before the 2014 season gets underway.
That message was delivered by Holmes’ trainer Tom Shaw, who said that his client isn’t having any problems with the foot injury that contributed to his rapid decline from 103 catches in his first two years with the Jets to 43 over the 2012 and 2013 seasons.
“He’ll definitely be on a team,” Shaw said, via the New York Post. “Just like [free-agent linebacker] James Harrison will be on a team. As long as teams don’t think he’ll be a distraction, he’s going to get picked up.”
Shaw says that Holmes knows he won’t be a No. 1 receiver but that he “wants to go to a place where he can catch 60 balls a year.” There aren’t too many openings like that in the league right now and it may take an injury for a team to roll the dice on Holmes recovering his form. Even then, he may have to wait until after the first week of the season so that teams don’t have to weigh guaranteeing his salary for the entire season if he’s on the roster to start the year.
That doesn’t paint a picture of a situation that affords Holmes the opportunity to be choosy that he squandered over the last few years with the Jets.