After 13 seasons in the NFL, Dwight Freeney isn't quite ready to call it quits. The 36-year-old, who spent last season with the Cardinals, wants to play at least one more year.
The problem for Freeney right now is that he's not exactly drawing any interest from any of the league's 32 teams. When that happens, you have to start trying to convince teams to sign you, which is what Freeney did during a Sportscenter interview on Thursday.
NFL teams, if you're listening, Freeney is willing to play for pretty much anyone.
"Arizona would be a great team, but if it doesn't work out here, it could be anywhere," Freeney told ESPN, via the Cardinals' official website.
Well, not exactly anywhere.
Freeney did make one exception to his "anywhere" rule: He won't be signing with a losing team.
"It has to be a winning team," Freeney said. "I'm used to winning."
Basically, it sounds like Freeney has already eliminated the Browns, Titans and Buccaneers from the pool of teams that he might eventually sign with.
Although the veteran has been a free agent for over two months now, he's not panicking. Freeney understands that most NFL teams aren't out looking for a 36-year-old pass-rusher.
"The thing is, when you are when you are as old as me ... those teams want to figure out what they want to do," Freeney said. "They have their young guys, they have their draft picks, so an older guy like me who's been playing for a while, you know what, they want to take their time and that's OK. I don't mind."
Freeney's willing to wait, but not forever. Freeney, who was the 11th overall pick in the 2002 NFL Draft, didn't sign with the Cardinals until after Week 5 last season, and that's an experience he doesn't want to go through again.
"I know my body loved (signing late), but the anxiety mentally wasn't good," Freeney said. "So hopefully I can get signed before then."
Freeney may not be drawing interest from anyone right now, but there's a good chance that several teams will eventually give him a look, especially after the way he played in 2015. In just 11 games with the Cardinals, Freeney racked up eight sacks, which led the team for the entire season.
Thanks to those eight sacks, Freeney now has 119.5 in his career, which ranks 19th all-time.
