Nicks wants long-term contract, courts Colts, Chargers and Panthers: Report

Hakeem Nicks wants to clarify his earlier remarks about accepting a one-year, prove-it contract. What he really meant to say was that he wants a long-term deal before re-establishing himself on the free-agent market.

And he especially wants the Colts, Panthers, and Chargers to know about it.

Just one day after an ESPN report said the soon-to-be former Giants receiver was willing to accept a single-year deal so he could prove his market value, on Sunday, Nicks corrected himself and told ESPN, “I just want to make it clear that I want a long-term deal.”

He also wouldn’t mind getting it from the three teams he specifically mentioned, reports The New York Daily News.

“Ideally, this is what I want,” Nicks said. “I want to go to a team where I’m the missing link. There are a number of teams that I have my eye on once I hit the market. I know if I went to a place like Indianapolis I would be dangerous with a quarterback like Andrew Luck. I can see myself catching passes from Cam Newton or even Philip Rivers.”

He didn't even mention the Giants or Eli Manning. Not that it matters to them.

Nicks is almost definitely not going to re-sign with the Giants, the team that made him a 2009 first-round draft pick. There doesn’t seem to be any reason for the Giants to give the underachieving Nicks a lucrative, long-term contract, not after two subpar seasons and lingering questions whether he gave one-hundred percent last season.

Nicks figures to attract plenty of interest from other teams and likely will start setting up visits on Tuesday when teams can speak with him directly. Until then, the only contact interested teams can have is with Nicks’ agent.

“Players have already started to reach out to me from other teams saying they would love for me to come join them,’’ Nicks told ESPN. “I just want to make it clear that I want a long-term deal and I want to be happy. I’m excited about talking to teams and making it work.”