Braylon Edwards looks like the best free-agent wide receiver on the market. There has been speculation the Cincinnati Bengals will pick him up, but coach Marvin Lewisthrew cold water on that notion Friday. After all, the Bengals already might have enough "old" players.
"We want to strike the balance with the young players, too. I don't want to fill up our 90 spots with all old players," Lewis said. "We've got to have some young guys to help supplement the draft picks, and so at the end of the day, you have an opportunity of guys trending up. We don't want to have too many guys on the other side of their careers."
Translation: It's time to stop speculating about Braylon to the Bengals. These have to be sobering words for Edwards to hear. It wasn't so long ago that he was a young, rising player with a big free-agent market. Edwards is just 29 years old, but that's the "other side" of an NFL player's career.
This is especially true with Edwards. His knee limited him to five starts and 15 catches last season. He might not be fully healthy for another month, so don't expect him to sign with anyone until then.
Don't expect the Bengals to sign him at all.