Report: Plaxico Burress Eyes Early Release

Former Super Bowl hero and Michigan State star Plaxico Burress is looking for a get-out-of-jail card.

New York Correction Department spokeswoman Linda Foglia says a decision is expected next month on Burress' work furlough application.

The New York Post says that could free him for face-to-face negotiations while looking for a new team. The NFL is lifting his suspension when his sentence is done. A furlough also could let him spend time with his family.

"If Mr. Burress is eligible for work release under the Department of Corrections' guidelines, then he should get it," Burress' lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, told the newspaper. "And my hope is that his celebrity status does not prevent him from getting a break that every other inmate with the same facts would be entitled to."

Burress was at a Manhattan nightclub when a gun slipped out of his waistband and fired, wounding his thigh. At the time, he was a New York Giants receiver.

His two-year sentence started in September; it could be 20 months with time off for good behavior.

Out of 31,598 inmate applications for work release last year, just 1,413 were approved, according to New York State Department of Corrections' statistics, reports the Post.