Jabar

Gaffney

The third-year receiver is hoping to establish some offensive consistency this season.

Bradford is not expected to play. Gaffney still isn’t a great fantasy option, but you could do worse if truly in a bind.

He won’t play in the preseason opener, but the fact that he’s close is a good sign. It looks like he’ll be Houston’s opening week starter.

He won’t play in this weekend’s preseason game. ''He’s been around here, he knows the offense. He has made plays for us,’' coach Dom Capers said. It sounds like Gaffney will be able to recover his starter’s job when he returns. We think he’s more suited as a No. 3 WR, but the Texans don’t have a true No. 2.

After not missing a game in his first three seasons, Gaffney has been unable to participate in full-contact drills still. Corey Bradford’s great training camp could push Gaffney to the No. 3 in depth chart.

The visit comes after Gaffney’s Monday Dolphins workout. Gaffney hasn’t missed a game since 2006, and would provide veteran, durable insurance for a Raiders receiver corps lacking both veteran and durable wideouts. Tiquan Underwood also worked out for Oakland.

Gaffney was invisible in the first preseason game. It’s possible undrafted rookie Hank Baskett is now Philadelphia’s third receiver.

At this point, the Eagles are hoping he can be a solid No. 3 receiver behind Todd Pinkston and Reggie Brown. With Pinkston far from 100%, Eagles fans are understandably worried about their receiver corps.

Once Santana Moss (hand) went out, Gaffney was the Redskins’ No. 1 wideout. He tied for the team lead with eight targets and will continue in that role as long as Moss is out. However, Gaffney is not an explosive player after the catch and struggles to separate deep. He’s just a desperation option in Buffalo next week.

The move clears $2.65M in salary off the books. Gaffney caught a career-high 68 passes for 947 yards and five touchdowns last season, but offered little after the catch. He became expendable after the Skins committed nearly $30M guaranteed to Pierre Garcon and Josh Morgan. Gaffney’s bizarre April Twitter rant surely didn’t help matters. The Patriots were considered likely to be interested in Gaffney if he hit the open market, but that was before they retained Deion Branch and Chad Ochocinco, and signed Anthony Gonzalez and Donte’ Stallworth. With at least 50 catches in each of the past three seasons, the 31-year-old Gaffney should find a new home soon.