Hakeem Nicks is one of the top players left on the market and the wide receiver could sign with the San Francisco 49ers, Indianapolis Colts, Carolina Panthers, San Diego Chargers or Oakland Raiders along with a possible return to the NY Giants and the free agent WR could be inked within a week after meeting with a number of teams.
The Giants would have loved to keep Nicks, but he is coming off of two bad seasons and is likely to ask for a nice contract and that put the team out of contention for him to start free agency and the top targets for the WR are the Carolina Panthers, Indianapolis Colts and San Francisco 49ers. According to ESPN.com, the Niners are doing their work on Nicks and this comes after the website reported that he was interested in signing with the Colts, Panthers or Chargers so he could get the chance to play with Andrew Luck, Cam Newton or Philip Rivers.
The Panthers appear to be a logical fit for Nicks, as the team is down their top two receivers after Brandon LaFell became a free agent and Steve Smith was released and that opens the for for Nicks. The team also lost Domenik Hixon and they could be ready for a splash at wide receiver and it makes more sense when you factor in that Nicks played his college ball in the state and is also from there and with Newton throwing balls to him at quarterback, it makes it a favorable destination for him.
The Colts come into the things with an injury to Reggie Wayne last season and TY Hilton as their main receiver and adding Nicks to that mix makes for fine duo and an even better trio and if they opt to spend the money on him he should be able to flourish with Luck in the offense. Nicks is coming off of a bad year that saw him score zero touchdowns and catch zero red zone passes and he will have toss how teams that these past two seasons were aberrations and not the standard. Nicks was a key player during the Super Bowl run for the Giants and he had over 70 catches and 1,000 yards in the two seasons of 2010 and 2011, but he has not been able to get back to that over the past two years.
The Chargers and Raiders could be west coast options for Nicks and while the Raiders don't have a QB, they may have the money that he is looking for on the market. Nicks and the 49ers would be an interesting move as well, as the team has Anquan Boldin and Michael Crabtree already and adding Nicks to the mix would break things wide open. Greg Roman could have a field day with those three receivers and the Niners could be looking to make a move since Boldin is getting up there in age and Crabtree is still just a year removed from serious surgery. Nicks is likely the next big name wide receiver to sign after Eric Decker went to the Jets.
