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General Failure wrote:He's going to get a new deal. It's a molehill people, calm down.

Lurie: No deal for T.O.

The Eagles' owner said his star receiver will simply have to honor his contract.

By Ashley McGeachy Fox

Inquirer Staff Writer

Blasting Terrell Owens' agent for giving the disgruntled wide receiver "self-destructive advice," Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said yesterday that the team would not renegotiate Owens' contract.

"It's not even an issue," Lurie said in an exclusive interview. "It's a nonissue. There are a lot of things I spend time thinking about, but that's not one of them."

Reached at his off-season home in Atlanta last night, Owens declined to comment.

After a stellar season in which he led the Eagles with 1,200 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns en route to the team's first Super Bowl appearance since 1981, Owens last month switched agents from his longtime representative David Joseph to Drew Rosenhaus. A powerful agent in the NFL, Rosenhaus quickly flew to Philadelphia for a five-minute meeting with Eagles president Joe Banner.

"My policies are not to comment, so I have no comment," Rosenhaus said.

Neither Rosenhaus nor Owens has said what type of deal the star receiver wants, only that the seven-year $46 million deal he signed before joining the team in 2004 was inadequate. Rosenhaus has not ruled out Owens' missing the Eagles' training camp in July.

Asked whether he expects Owens to be with the Eagles when the regular season begins in September, Lurie said: "If he wants to win a Super Bowl, he sure should be. At this level, with multimillions [of dollars], you're just trying to leave a legacy and win Super Bowls, as far as I'm concerned. And he's got a great opportunity."

In a wide-ranging interview in his office at the Eagles' complex, Lurie blamed Owens for allowing Rosenhaus, who has an NFL client list of more than 90 players, to give him "self-destructive advice."

"It's a shame," said Lurie, who bought the Eagles in 1994 for $185 million.

"Every player is both fragile and talented. Unfortunately, we're seeing around the league certain agents who take advantage of the fragility of the players, and are less worried about their continued success and stability than acting self-destructively. It's too bad."

After a difficult courtship in March 2004, when San Francisco initially sent Owens to Baltimore in a trade that was rescinded before an arbitrator could rule that Owens was technically a free agent, the Eagles gave Owens a signing bonus just shy of $10 million. Owens is scheduled to make $3.25 million this season, then receive a $5 million roster bonus next March.

But the Eagles could escape paying that bonus if they release Owens. Players' contracts in the NFL are not guaranteed.

In 2006, Owens' base salary will drop to $770,000, then rise to $5.5 million in 2007, $6.5 million in 2008, $7.5 million in 2009 and $8.5 million in 2010. Over the life of the deal, Owens will average $6.6 million per year, making him the second- or third-highest-paid receiver, behind Oakland's Randy Moss and possibly Indianapolis' Marvin Harrison.

Before leaving today, with NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue, for a prestigious conference of chief executive officers in Beijing, Lurie said he could understand a player who has one year remaining on his deal asking to renegotiate, but not a player who recently signed a contract.

"You always have that kind of thing," Lurie said. "I think what you have to do is you have to hold players responsible for some advice they're given that is self-destructive advice. They're not immune. They're not immune to agents stealing players from other agents, and manipulating players. They're just not immune to this.

"I don't think it's unusual for a restricted free agent to want to have a long-term contract and have trouble figuring out the real value of what that should be, but it plays out over time. It always plays itself out, and it will play itself out. But a player who signed a long-term contract, you just have to say, 'Hmm...'

"In the end, what we've seen over the years, especially the last several years with our team and the [New England] Patriots and some others, it's a team game. Teams that really seem to have high-character players win. We've been fortunate to have a lot of high-character players, [including] a very high-character quarterback [Donovan McNabb] who is a leader. You really win with those that want to be with you. You hope when September comes, everybody wants to go out and win a Super Bowl. The economics take care of themselves."

Owens proved he wanted to win a Super Bowl a few months ago. After injuring his right ankle and leg against Dallas on Dec. 19, Owens went through extensive rehabilitation and was ready for the Super Bowl, where he turned in a stunning performance with nine catches for 122 yards.

Last month, Owens told The Inquirer that he was asking for a new contract because the Eagles can cut him at any time, for any reason.

"I just want people to think about what they're hearing from all these reports about me being greedy," Owens said at the time. "Just take a moment and look at my stature in the game. I know I'm a top player in the game, and my current contract doesn't justify that. The fact that I signed this contract, that I'm under contract, doesn't factor into anything when it comes to the National Football League.

"The Eagles can cut me anytime they want to, even if I'm performing well, I'm healthy and I'm putting up numbers, because they don't want to pay a player that money. If they can do what's best for their financial future, then why can't I?"

Owens missed the Eagles' mandatory minicamp, which ended May 1. The Birds' next minicamp, which is voluntary, starts later this month.

The Eagles quarterback said money, or the lack of it, would prompt the wide receiver to come back.

By Ashley McGeachy Fox

Inquirer Staff Writer


A day after Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie told The Inquirer that he would not renegotiate Terrell Owens' contract, quarterback Donovan McNabb said he expects Owens to be on the field with the Birds in September.

"From everything that's been said and everything that's been going on, now you're starting to see people react to it," McNabb said of the monthlong duel between the wide receiver and the Birds.

"I think it's time that people do that," he said yesterday. "Now you're seeing it and understanding it. When it comes down to it, everything works itself out and we'll be right back playing football again."

After spending several hours filming a soup commercial with his parents, Sam and Wilma, at Lincoln Financial Field, McNabb said that if nothing else, money would bring Owens back. Not more money. The threat of losing it.

"Are you saying you'll sit out and lose money in order to try to get more money, and if it doesn't happen, that you will get that new contract when you've already lost money?" McNabb said. "I don't think people can really sleep well with that. So I expect everyone to be there."

"Everyone" includes Owens, running back Brian Westbrook, and defensive tackles Hollis Thomas and Corey Simon.

Asked whether "a man" should honor his contract, McNabb smiled and replied, "Are you trying to get me?" before adding, "When you sign your name on the dotted line, that's your deal, and you know that's a decision you had to make."

Owens, who logged 1,200 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns last season before getting hurt on Dec. 19, switched agents in early April and subsequently asked the Eagles to renegotiate his contract, which has six years remaining.

Neither he nor his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, an NFL power broker, has said what type of deal Owens wants. On Tuesday, Lurie said he would not negotiate.

"It's a nonissue," Lurie said.

Apparently it's not much of an issue for McNabb, either. McNabb said yesterday that he talked with Owens shortly before last month's mandatory minicamp, which Owens skipped.

"It's nothing where I told him what he needs to do or whatever," McNabb said. "He's his own man. I'm a grown man."

McNabb said there is "no strain" between he and his favorite receiver last season, even though Owens recently questioned McNabb's stamina in the final minutes of Super Bowl XXIX, which the Eagles lost to New England, 24-21.

"I don't play games in the media," McNabb said. "It's not a war of words. We can handle it like men, and if there's a problem with something, let's continue on and do our jobs."

Still, Owens' contract dispute is the biggest of several issues that have hung over the Eagles throughout the off-season. Last week, the Birds dumped Freddie Mitchell, the loquacious receiver and former first-round draft pick who had been outspoken in his criticism of McNabb after the Super Bowl.

"Any time someone gets released, that's nothing you agree with or anything," McNabb said. "It's a business decision. When it happens, you have to be able to roll with it, I guess. I wish him nothing but the best."

Reminded that Mitchell said he felt a poor relationship with McNabb had affected his career, McNabb said: "Well, I'm not a guy who makes the decisions. I don't hire and fire people. I do my job out on the football field just like anyone else."

As for Owens, McNabb dismissed the notion that the receiver used him for leverage to leave San Francisco. After the 2003 season, Owens and McNabb were outspoken about wanting to play together, and helped to facilitate the receiver's arrival in Philadelphia.

"I think the way you look at it is, it was something that we all felt we could have benefited from, having a guy like T.O. over here, that he would do a great job for us," McNabb said. "And I would think he will continue on. The sky's the limit on how far we can really go with having a guy like T.O., not only for me, but for the team.

"It's exciting to know what we're capable of doing when we're out there on that field."

The big question is, will Owens be there? And if not, will the Birds be able to reach Super Bowl XL in Detroit?

"I believe in this team," McNabb said. "I'm going to be prepared at all times, and I feel like if he plays or not, we definitely have a chance of making it to the Super Bowl and winning it. That's nothing against T.O. That's nothing against anybody else.

"I just feel confident in the guys that we have. With T.O., I think we can do a lot of great things. I think without T.O., we still can do some good things."

SKINZ_DOMIN8 wrote:Another case where other players (QB's) need to mind their own business. Owens made McNabb-- not the other way around.

Redskin in Canada wrote:

SKINZ_DOMIN8 wrote:Another case where other players (QB's) need to mind their own business. Owens made McNabb-- not the other way around.

McNabb was McNabb way before the CLOWN came to destroy the Eagles. TO will be a thorn on the side of Reid, McNabb, Lurie, the team, ... Did I leave anybody out?

Oh Yes! General Failure too. Wait and see.

Excuse me, but did the Iggles make the superbowl before Owens' arrival?

SKINZ_DOMIN8 wrote: Excuse me, but did the Iggles make the superbowl before Owens' arrival?

Redskin in Canada wrote:We can argue this one until "the cows come back home". It is all speculation. I have a higher opinion of James Thrash than you do. I have a lower opinion of TO than you do. It is cool. No problem.

With or without TO, the Eagles are the team to beat for #1 in the NFC East this season.

Terrell Owens is still intent on getting a new contract from the Philadelphia Eagles — or any other team that will pay the right price.

Gibbs' Hog wrote:T.O. is a moron, IMO. His agent was blamed for the contract snafu in San Fran, but any normal business man (and that includes most football players) would have ensured that his contract issues were in order.

It's the same thing here. T.O. is an exceptional player, and should have demanded more compensation when he originally signed his contract with the Iggles. Again, it was blamed on the agent.

Granted, it's also the agent's job to do as much as he can for a player, but T.O.'s reputation and obvious talent should have attracted a lot more money in the first place. Crybaby.