Who Wants Him?
Terrell Owens’ agent says several teams are interested in signing his client.
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Yet there can’t be too many options considering all the factors that have to line up: a team that needs a No. 1 receiver, has enough cash and catches to make T.O. happy, and is led by a coach and quarterback who can handle him if he’s not.
Of course, there’s always the Raiders.
While Oakland is an easy target because of Al Davis’ history of signing locker-room outcasts on the down side of their career, a rundown of the other 31 teams shows there are only a few other likely candidates.
Start with the teams that can be nixed for simple reasons: Cowboys (obviously), Eagles (not again), Steelers (as Super Bowl champs, why bother?).
Boldin), Patriots (Randy Moss), Seahawks (just added T.J. Houshmandzadeh).
‘ son-in-law).
This group has learned its lesson the hard way: Giants (Plaxico Burress); Bengals (Ocho Cinco; just signed Laveranues Coles), Ravens (Owens found legal loophole to get out of being traded there in ’04).
The timing is bad for these clubs: Panthers (not enough salary-cap room even if they did want to pair him with Steve Smith), Buccaneers (dumping veterans, not adding them), Jaguars (ditto).
The Packers, Bills and Bears are simply bad fits.
The Redskins seem like a good landing spot just so owner Dan Snyder can dream of Owens scoring against the Cowboys then leading fans in a chant of “Hail to the Redskins.” But insiders insist Snyder has learned to just say no to aging prima donnas after being let down by Deion Sanders, Bruce Smith and, most recently, Jason Taylor.
The Falcons are intriguing, especially with Owens having ties to the area. But there’s the whole Michael Vick factor. Owens has never been in trouble with the law, but his locker-room rap sheet is enough for team owner Arthur Blank to stay away.
The Saints don’t need any help on offense, and Sean Payton is close enough to the Parcells faction to be warned off.
o doesn’t need a potential distraction.
The Titans would love for Kerry Collins throwing to a guy coming off three straight 1,000-yard seasons, but after dealing with Adam “Pacman” Jones and Vince Young the last few years, dealing with Owens might be the last thing coach Jeff Fisher needs.
The Jets could use a game-breaker to replace Coles, but with a new coach, and coming off a year with Brett Favre, they’d rather be circus-free.
Rule out the Browns because of the new coach factor, too. Same with the Lions and Rams, teams Owens might rule out anyway considering how things went for them last season.
Twenty-seven down, five to go. And there are serious questions about some of those five.
The Chargers could make a good offense even better with Owens, but their first priority is figuring out what to do about LaDainian Tomlinson. With or without L.T., this division winner might not want to bother with the Owens chemistry experiment.
The Texans seem to have a good thing going with Matt Schaub, Andre Johnson and Steve Slaton. Again, Owens might help, especially if he promises to get along with others, but can an organization that’s on the upswing take the risk?
ruled it out and didn’t. Odds are he was just being coy. Owens might not want to return anyway.
All that’s left are the Raiders … and, the Broncos.
Denver was interested the last time Owens was on the market. Mike Shanahan was in charge then, and isn’t now. Yet owner Pat Bowlen certainly remembers his old pal’s affinity for Owens. And new coach Josh McDaniels had success working with Moss in New England. Adding Owens might even be a perfect way for management to appease Jay Cutler after rankling him with trade talks.
Just because the Broncos are a plausible fit doesn’t mean it will happen, only that it could.
So could this: nothing.
Remote as it seems, all 32 teams could decide Owens is more trouble than he’s worth, that preserving the locker room trumps having another deep threat, even one who might help sell tickets and jerseys, and lure a prime-time TV slot or two.
Baseball turned its back on Barry Bonds. Sure, Bonds is older and more troubled, but also a talented, capable performer wrapped in a prickly personality.
Another baseball tie-in to remember is Manny Ramirez. Who wouldn’t want a guy with his stats? A lot of teams, apparently, considering how his offseason went. A lack of interest and/or a spiraling economy kept him without a team the first few weeks of spring training.
Owens also might find himself waiting longer than he wants.
e market, the more chance there is a team that’s saying no now switches to a maybe. Perhaps a team decides to break its mold and do something splashy, or a team in a tight division decides Owens might put them over the top.
For now, all there is to go on is this text message from agent Drew Rosenhaus.
“There are several teams that are interested in signing Terrell,” he wrote Friday. “I have been in negotiations with these teams. I will not identify these teams at this time. Terrell and I expect to have a deal in place by the end of next week if not sooner.”
Posted: 3/7/09 12:30AM ET
