Posted on Fri, Mar. 10, 2006
Low interest in T.O. as days as Bird dwindle
By LES BOWEN
bowenl@phillynews.com
Now that free agency is finally about to begin, at 1 minute past midnight tonight, the clock is again ticking on the Eagles' possession of Terrell Owens' rights.
The Eagles will owe T.O. a $5 million roster bonus if he is on their roster as of the fifth day of the new NFL year. Free agency begins the year, so unless there is some new twist, before Tuesday is over, the divorce at last will be official between the All-Pro wide receiver and the Birds.
Of course, the Eagles are free to release him any time before then, and could do so as soon as today, if they wanted to minimize the media attention, with their fans more interested in reported pending free-agent signings.
All the uncertainty over where the salary cap would end up before the new collective bargaining agreement was reached might have dampened speculation over Owens' new destination. The Denver Broncos invited him for a chat last month, but they have seemed no more than lukewarm since. Owens' agent, Drew Rosenhaus, huddled with Dallas coach Bill Parcells at the NFL scouting combine a few weeks ago. And the Kansas City Chiefs' new coach, Herman Edwards, has indicated his interest.
Yesterday, Chiefs president Carl Peterson told the
Kansas City Star he would take Owens, but only in a bare-bones, 1-year deal. It's hard to say for sure, but Owens, 32, might have to take such a contract to try to rebuild his reputation.
"If Terrell and his agent are interested in a 1-year contract with no guarantees and a lot of incentives, then we're interested," Peterson told the paper, for today's editions. "He knows that, and his representative knows that. They haven't called me back on that yet, and they may not call me back."
Peterson said the Owens situation isn't the first thing on his plate.
"That's a very distant thing," he said. "I'm not focused on that right now. We'll have to see how things go."