On the day prospective free agents can begin negotiations with NFL teams, Hakeem Nicks has circulated medical assurances to all clubs from two of the nation's leading specialists that past foot and knee injuries should not inhibit the wide receiver's 2014 season, according to a league source.
Nicks' final two seasons with the New York Giants, with whom his productivity dipped dramatically since they selected him in the first round of the 2009 draft, were plagued by the injuries. He officially becomes an unrestricted free agent Tuesday, the first day of the new league year.
Dr. Robert Anderson, who performed foot surgery on a Jones fracture that was repaired with a screw in late May 2012, wrote to teams that a recent MRI provided no discernible ankle or foot problems that would prohibit Nicks from resuming an active career.
Dr. James Andrews also wrote a hearty endorsement related to Nicks' PCL surgery in February 2013 for a left knee injury he suffered in September 2012. Andrews declared Nicks' knee to be "completely healed" and does not have "any hesitation" in recommending teams to consider him.
Copies of the doctors' letters were obtained through a league source.
Nicks is receptive to returning to the Giants. If he does not re-sign with New York, he is hopeful of finding a team with a proven quarterback.
He is willing to weigh a one-year contract to prove his past two seasons were aberrations, league sources said.