You can add the Vikings to the list of teams that won't be pursuing free-agent wide receiver Plaxico Burress once the NFL lockout is over.

Burress, 33, who has played nine NFL seasons, was released from a prison in upstate New York this week after serving a 20-month sentence. His release came three months early due to his good behavior.

Burress shot himself in the thigh in November 2008 at a nightclub in New York City when a handgun that he had in his sweatpants slipped from his waistband and went off. He began serving his sentence in September 2009.

Burress was with the New York Giants from 2005 to 2008. He has caught 505 passes for 7,845 yards and 55 touchdowns in his time with the Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers (2000-04).

The Vikings could be looking for help at wide receiver if Sidney Rice ends up departing as a free agent. With the lockout still ongoing, it remains unclear if Rice will be a restricted or unrestricted free agent. The Vikings put a first-round tender on him, but that won't matter if Rice is unrestricted.

Rice has been in the NFL for four seasons. In the final year of the collective bargaining agreement in 2010, a player needed six or more years of experience to become an unrestricted free agent. Prior to that, a player needed four or more seasons to become unrestricted.