If early media coverage of the Terrell Owens saga proves accurate it seems the brash former Cowboy, Eagle and 49er wide receiver might have trouble finding his next suitor.
Stephen A. Smith on ESPN News Thursday night indicated that Owens would like to play for Indianapolis, the New York Giants or New England. He cited no sources in his report, however, so it’s uncertain to me whether he was saying so based on solid information or just guessing where T.O. would like to play.
And the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network’s further reporting, courtesy of Chris Mortensen, indicated that all 16 NFC teams and 14 AFC teams have said they have no interest in signing the enigmatic receiver, cut loose officially by the Dallas Cowboys Thursday.
The only two teams not on Mort’s list are the Oakland Raiders and Tennessee Titans.
But ProFootballTalk.com has been keeping a tally of its own as well. And while the official anti-T.O. list being compiled by PFT brain wizard Mike Florio at 9:12 central time hadn’t yet been updated to indicate so, he ran a sort of bizarre item this afternoon where Raider exec John Herrera indicates “we’re as happy as can be right now.”
He later amended the item indicating that a Dave Mason from KHTK told him the Raiders were referring to the restructuring of Javon Walker.
So, depending on how you interpret the Raiders item, the 35-year-old Owens seemingly has just one or two teams from which to choose his next destination.
Many radio, Web and television reporters have speculated that the controversial wideout would be a perfect fit in Oakland, but I think that stop would just frustrate him more. JaMarcus Russell has a big arm and he’s shown a few flashes, but he’s still early in his development as an NFL quarterback. That would seem to be a bad fit for Owens, given his history of getting into it with more established signal callers like Donovan McNabb, Jeff Garcia and Tony Romo.
Tennessee might actually be a better fit. The Titans have a great running game and not a lot at receiver. Likely starter Kerry Collins is far from a superstar at this stage, but he can still wing the ball once in awhile and another downfield weapon wouldn’t hurt.
Now, let’s not be ridiculous. Owens will find a home in time for the 2009 season. Ultimately, my guess is that T.O.’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, will eventually convince one of the teams currently claiming no interest to take a chance on his client, or at least get them to bid up the price against Tennessee or Oakland.
For his part, Owens was gracious. On his Web site, he thanked Jones for the opportunity to spend three seasons with Dallas and told the fans they were awesome.
No matter where he ends up, however, it appears as though his antics are wearing thin on personnel directors around the league. While he’s aging and may be starting to slow down just a bit, he scored 10 touchdowns and amassed 1,052 yards on 69 catches last season – hardly the numbers of someone most league execs would show no interest in at all.
Kharma can be a real pain sometimes, can’t it.
He’s had the dropsies the last couple years too. Tough to argue the QB should throw more to you when you’ve dropped 33 passes.