Owens remains unsigned despite interest
As teams begin to prepare for their training camps and the start of the National Football League season, interest in veteran free agent wide receiver Terrell Owens and where he will sign has continually increased.
Reports indicate that several teams, including the St. Louis Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals, have maintained contact with Owens and his representatives, though no move towards an actual signing has been made.
The Rams were initially reported as being the most aggressive in attempting to acquire Owens, but a team official scoffed at such “overzealous” reports. Still, it is undeniable that the 15-year NFL veteran would be a very nice target for rookie quarterback Sam Bradford to have.
Any time you can have your developing quarterback throwing to a receiver with 1000 career receptions for over 15,000 yards, it’s a situation you tend to jump for. Currently the majority of the Rams’ receivers have been in the NFL for less than three years and have not managed to prove themselves much in the span.
Owens would be a welcome addition and even though would be a one-year rental, he would help Bradford improve for the rest of his career.
Owens personally would like a move to the Bengals, though coach Marvin Lewis has been slightly apprehensive of the possibility. During a Tuesday interview with the team's official Web site, Lewis said: "We've been down that road. I don't have a concern that we need to add anybody [at receiver]."
Quite frankly, the Bengals should be concerned about adding someone in the receiver slot. The Bengals offence succeeded last year mainly due to running back Cedric Benson’s career year of 1,251 yards in just 13 games. Unlike St. Louis, the Bengals are a division champion and a contender. Owens might take less money to play for a contending team like Cincinnati and could be a very good deal that would help the Bengals go deeper in the playoffs.
They have a very gifted quarterback in Carson Palmer, and it couldn’t hurt to give him another target to throw to. The Bengals’ star receiver Chad Ochocinco has openly supported a move that would bring Owens to the Bengals. He posted on Twitter that he would be the Robin to Owens’s Batman.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are also rumoured to be interested in acquiring Owens, though they lack of contention makes them long shots. Owens has a higher career yardage total than the entire Buccaneers receiving corps combined. Second-year starter Josh Freeman would benefit from Owens’s veteran knowledge and the Bucs could perhaps develop some form of running game.
In regards to where he would play, Owens has some specifications. "It has to be the right situation for me," Owens told NFL Network's Stacey Dales on Friday. "I'm going in on my 15th season, so I want to go to a team that's on the cusp of making it to the playoffs and really having a team really want me and feel that I can come in and be an asset to their ballclub. Other than that, I'm still working out and keeping myself in shape, and I'll be ready."
Owens has had his behavioural issues before, but so have a lot of other NFL players currently signed to team rosters. He will go down as one of the best receivers in league history and is easily a Hall-of-Famer. He is still fit physically and had no behavioural issues during his forgettable stint with the Buffalo Bills.
It would be extremely bizarre, and unfortunate, if Owens was not signed to a team before the start of the year. Then again, it’s just as bizarre that Owens is a free agent this far into the offseason in the first place.
Tags: