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Which NFL Teams Are Desperate Enough To Explore Ray Rice?

ByErik Lambert|

In the wake of his highly publicized assault of his girlfriend in an elevator, running back Ray Rice has experienced a titanic fall from grace.  Once considered a role model among NFL players given his exploits on the field and his charity work, he brought it all crashing down in a matter of seconds.

Now the 28-year old is just trying to finish out his career on a high note.  In order to do that though he needs to be offered a contract by somebody.  Anybody at this point.

The problem is no matter where he goes, he’ll instantly bring bad publicity to the team based on his past.  However many times he apologizes or tries to explain, it won’t matter.  That video can’t be erased from public minds.  This means in order for him to get that last chance, a team needs to be pretty uncertain at running back to take that risk.

His lone saving grace is being a three-time Pro Bowler.  So are there any franchise in such a position to give him that opportunity?

New England Patriots

Giving troubled players second chances is something the New England Patriots have done before, and it’s clear team image matters less to them than winning based on their history of cheating scandals.  After losing Shane Vereen and Stevan Ridley to free agency, they have a lot of unproven depth at running back behind LeGarrette Blount.  Exploiting veterans on short-term deals is something they love to do, so why not Rice?

Dallas Cowboys

Having already signed Greg Hardy and drafted Randy Gregory, bringing on players with questionable off-the-field concerns has become common place for the Dallas Cowboys.  Considering the loss of DeMarco Murray to free agency and the uncertainty they’re having at running back without him, a move for Rice would not surprise anybody at this point given his experience and their Super Bowl-or-bust mentality.

Indianapolis Colts

They did already sign Frank Gore earlier this year, but can the Indianapolis Colts really pin their running game on his 32-year old legs.  Is an awfully big gamble given the high expectations for this team in 2015.  There isn’t a lot behind him after all.  Rice would ease those concerns and better still the team wouldn’t be pressed to play him due to the presence of Gore.  So it’s a win-win.  Rice wins because he gets on a team and the Colts win for the depth and won’t take as big an image hit by not playing him too much.

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