Like it or not, T.O., Eagles are stuck with each other
Posted: Thursday August 11, 2005 3:07PM; Updated: Wednesday August 17, 2005 5:32PM
Terrell Owens was asked to leave Eagles camp after arguing with coach Andy Reid on Wednesday.
AP
Oh, T.O. Now where do you go?
After getting tossed out of the Philadelphia Eagles training camp on Wednesday and then conducting a combined workout/press conference in his driveway, Terrell Owens has not only painted himself into a corner again, he's hung up dry wall, some faux wood paneling and started to decorate tastefully.
Predicting what's going to happen next in the Owens saga is always a dicey proposition. But I'm pretty sure what's not going to take place after T.O. takes his week-long T.O. (time out). He's not going to get his wish of being traded or released by Philadelphia in 2005. Ain't happening, football fans. Eagles owner Jeff Lurie and team president Joe Banner would rather suit up head coach Andy Reid himself at receiver than give in and let Owens win this messy little showdown that officially reached carnival status on Wednesday. Owens will play for the Eagles -- or he won't play at all.
We'll round up the usual suspects for you, but you'll see that a trade for Owens just isn't much of an option. Because it really does take two to tango, and trust us, the Eagles are partner-less in this dance for the time being.
Said one veteran club executive of Owens Thursday morning: "He's got no value in the league right now. There's no one who will take on that problem. He's got nowhere to go. After that performance yesterday, in his driveway, no one's going to make a move to get him and then have to give that guy more money. He's Philly's problem.''
Here's where Owens isn't going, and we'll start with the most frequently mentioned trade possibilities and work backward to the patently absurd:
Oakland -- Yeah, we know it fits AlDavis' M.O. He loves the renegades. The rabble-rousers. He'd drool over the chance to team T.O. up with Randy Moss and have Kerry Collins throw deep every down. Blah, blah, blah.
Don't hold your breath denizens of the black and silver. The Raiders are loaded at receiver and just gave Jerry Porter $7 million in signing bonus this offseason. If the Raiders turned around and traded Porter to the Eagles for Owens, they'd have to take all the acceleration of Porter's bonus on their cap, and then still have to give Owens a boatload of new money at some point. All for the privilege of having him and Moss in the same combustible locker room. Does that really make sense?
Baltimore -- Over OzzieNewsome's dead body. Yeah, the Eagles finally made the Super Bowl with T.O., but it turns out the Ravens were the real winners for losing the Owens sweepstakes last offseason. Look at all the fun they missed. Owens dissed Baltimore and accused Newsome, the Ravens' respected general manager, of racially charged comments. That bridge wasn't just burnt, it was blown to smithereens.
San Francisco -- Not in a billion years would the 49ers organization welcome back their long, national nightmare. And besides, new San Francisco head coach Mike Nolan just came from Baltimore (see above).