Ray Rice Wins Appeal: Would Improve Odds of Any Team He Plays But..

Former 27-year-old Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice has won his appeal and is now eligible to sign with any NFL team.  Will a club dare take him on in 2014?

The odds are good that Rice will play again but probably not this season.  That said, there are teams in Playoff contention that can certainly use his talents to push them over that next level.

Rice was suspended indefinitely Sept. 8 after a video surfaced of him hitting and dragging his then-fiancee from an Atlantic City casino elevator.  The NFL had initially suspended Rice for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy.

The teams most likely to sign Rice heading into the Playoffs if they so choose are the Patriots, Chargers, Bills or Lions.  The Oakland Raiders have also been talked about as a potential suitor though they remain out of this season’s Playoffs picture.

The Lions still have a shot at making it into the post season but their odds are getting much longer due to their lack of any running game (31^st in the league).  Rice would certainly help in that area.

Teams like the Chargers rank among the bottom five in rushing while the Patriots, now favored to win the 2015 Super Bowl, will become an even greater force heading into the post season.  New England head coach Bill Belichick has proven time and again he doesn’t care what the media thinks of him or his decisions and he’s resurrected the careers of numerous perceived “bad apples” in the past (Randy Moss comes to mind). 

Of course this is the same Patriots team that had alleged murdered Aaron Hernandez on its roster.

- Dan Shapiro, Gambling911.com