The Facts:
Look at Rice's 2009 tape, and there is every reason to believe he's a star in the making at the tender age of 24. Look at Rice's body of work -- not to mention his body -- in his other three NFL seasons, and there are plenty of reasons to question whether he's about to get a top-shelf payday. "I don't think so," an NFC decision-maker said this spring, "do you?"
Reported by 1500ESPN.com
Fantasy Football Diehards Line:
Well, as ESPN1500.com's Tom Pelissero suggests, that depends in which Rice you choose to believe. Is he the fully dimensional receiver who threatened defenses short, intermediate and long while racking up 12 touchdowns and nearly 1,500 yards for the Minnesota Vikings two years ago? Or is he the soft-minded injury magnet with a possibly arthritic hip who has only 63 catches in his other 32 NFL games? "His injuries obviously will be a concern for some teams," an AFC executive told Pelissero this week. "They'd want some clarification on that. But if that proves healthy, I would safely assume a team that needs a receiver probably has him on their radar. ..." Fantasy Football owners can probably assume a number of teams do have him on their radar. The big question is whether they'll be willing to give up the going rate for top WRs (set when the Cowboys re-signed Miles Austin to a six-year, $54 million extension last September that included $18 million guaranteed). ... Stay tuned.
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