If Buffalo Bills won't sign Ray Rice, will anyone in the NFL?

The saga has gone on so long, with no real development for months, that it's easy to forget running back Ray Rice is still trying to get an NFL job.

Don Banks at Sports Illustrated had an interesting piece last week, polling an array of NFL sources to see if they thought Rice would play again. The answers were roughly split. The most interesting answer from an NFL source to Banks singled out the Buffalo Bills as a potential spot, saying their new coach Rex Ryan "thinks the world of him from their time together in Baltimore [in 2008]. He loves him. He doesn’t like him. He loves him."

A couple days later, ESPN.com's Mike Rodak shot down that theory. He said there's no interest by the Bills in Rice, who infamously struck his then-fiancee in an elevator last year. Rice was suspended, cut by the Baltimore Ravens and hasn't even been close to signing with another team since.

So then the question starts anew. If the Bills and a coach who "loves" Rice won't entertain signing him, will anyone?

The SI piece pointed out that Ray McDonald's situation, in which he was cut by the Chicago Bears after another domestic violence arrest, doesn't help Rice. Neither does the criticism of the Seattle Seahawks for drafting Michigan defensive end Frank Clark, who was accused of suspicion of domestic violence. It doesn't seem possible, but Rice's path back to the NFL likely got even tougher recently. 

It's just hard to figure out a situation that would lead a team to sign Rice. Injuries will happen in training camp, but there are other lower-profile backs to fill roster spots. Veterans like Steven Jackson, who wouldn't bring a ton of media attention, are looking for work too. Other NFL teams who fit the profile of needing a back and not caring about public perception in grabbing players with off-field concerns — fine, we're talking about the Dallas Cowboys — could have signed Rice at any point this year and haven't. What is going to change their minds in June or July? It's not like Rice has any more apologies to give or any new football film to show teams.

Even in a league that hands out second, third and fourth chances to talented players and will invent any ridiculous excuse to try and appease the public, Rice seems like he'll forever be on the outside looking in. That led NFLPA chief DeMaurice Smith to wonder to ESPN if there was a concerted effort by the owners to keep Rice out of the league (via Pro Football Talk):

That's a strong claim, but it's easy to believe. Rice has been free to sign with anyone for some time now. His down 2013 season, with just 3.1 yards per carry, doesn't help. But before that he had four straight 1,000-yard seasons and averaged at least 4 yards per carry in every one. Dozens of running backs who aren't as good as Rice have signed since Rice was cut. This is about more than football, of course.

Maybe Rice will get another NFL shot. But with each week that passes, that possibility seems more and more unlikely.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdowncorner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab