Thoughts on Terrell Owens
Terrell Owens has had an interesting couple of days. He was released early Thursday by the Cowboys, who went 9-7 last season and blamed Owens for the team's chemistry issues. He hit the market and now, less than 3 days later, he is a member of the Buffalo Bills.
The Cowboys move to cut him is a head scratching one. I'm not saying that Owens wasn't to blame for a lot of the Cowboys' problems, but he is still an elite receiver and, given how fast he came off the market after the Cowboys released him, if the Cowboys were to try and trade Owens instead of releasing him, they could have gotten at least a 3rd rounder in return.
They also wouldn't have had to take a 9 million dollar cap hit if they had traded him, which will hurt their chances of resigning DeMarcus Ware, their most important defensive player. Ware, who had 20 sacks last season, will be a free agent after the 2009 season if the Cowboys cannot reach an agreement with him. Ware is expected to command a contract worth more than the deal Jared Allen signed last off season, which was 6 year 74 million. The Cowboys could end up having to pay Ware more than 14 million a season, and releasing Owens actually hurt their ability to do so.
This is the 2nd head scratching move by the Cowboys this off season, the third if you count giving Roy Williams away for free without trying to get compensation first, though I don't think the market would have been huge for him. The Cowboys also traded Anthony Henry for Jon Kitna. That move did not make any sense. Trading for Kitna saves them no money. The Cowboys did need a backup quarterback, but you should never trade for a backup, especially if you have to give up a proven starter like Anthony Henry.
What makes this worse is the fact that the market this off season is full of backup quarterbacks. Ryan Fitzpatrick, Byron Leftwich, JP Losman, Kyle Boller, Rex Grossman, Gus Frerotte, Chris Simms, and Dan Orlovsky either were or still are all free agents this off season. It’s not like Kitna is that much better than any of them, especially when you consider Kitna's age, 36. Now the Cowboys have major holes at cornerback. With Adam Jones gone as well, they need to start 2nd year corner Mike Jenkins, who might not pan out right away. They also lack depth behind Jenkins and will have to address that either through the draft, where they have very few picks, or through free agency, where they are low on cap room if they want to keep Ware in town.
On a separate note, I applaud the Lions' front office for making the Henry-Kitna swap. Jon Kitna was serving no use to them. Even if the Lions do not draft a quarterback at some point in the draft, highly unlikely, they were still planning on going with Daunte Culpepper at quarterback, with Drew Stanton as the backup. Kitna was likely going to be released, but instead they got some compensation for him, which is more than I can say for the Cowboys in the cases of Roy Williams and Terrell Owens. Anthony Henry can be a solid starter in a secondary that badly needs it. They couldn't have been any worse than the last regime in Detroit, but so far, this new regime has done a good job, especially when you consider how the ripped off the Cowboys when they traded Roy Williams (the receiver) to the Dallas for a 1st and 3rd rounder. Maybe the Cowboys should take a page out of Detroit's book. How ironic.
Owens' decision to sign with the Bills was also a head scratching one. It doesn't seem like the right fit. Owens likes getting thrown the football, playing with accomplished, established quarterbacks, winning, and playing in front of a large crowd.
In Buffalo, Owens will have to contend with Lee Evans to get the football. Evans has been targeted at least 100 times in each of the last 3 seasons.
Owens' quarterback will be Trent Edwards. If Owens got annoyed with Jeff Garcia, Donovan McNabb and Tony Romo, imagine what will happen with Edwards. Edwards' quarterback rating of 85.6 last season is nothing but average. If you think that's bad, what happens when Edwards gets hurt. In 2 pro seasons, Edwards has missed 8 games. If he gets hurt again, Ryan Fitzpatrick takes over. In 13 starts last season for Cincinnati, in relief of the injured Carson Palmer, Fitzpatrick had a quarterback rating of 70.0 which is mediocre at best, especially when you consider the fact that he was playing with a great set of wideouts in Chad “Ocho Cinco” Johnson, TJ Houshmanzadeh, Chris Henry, as well as other young, promising talents like Jerome Simpson and Andre Caldwell. Simpson and Caldwell were both taken in the first 3 rounds of the 2008 NFL Draft, Simpson in the 2nd, Caldwell in the 3rd.
The Bills have one winning season since 1999. Unless their defense can stay healthy all year, they are going to have trouble getting a winning season this season as well. The Bills will play the AFC South and the NFC South next year, as well as every other last place AFC team. Their schedule, in no particular order, will look like this: New England (x2), Miami (x2), NY Jets (x2), Indianapolis, Tennessee, Jacksonville, Houston, Oakland, Cleveland, Atlanta, Carolina, Tampa Bay, and New Orleans. With the exception of Oakland and Cleveland, there are no easy games on that schedule. They are going to have a tough time winning more than 8 games next year, especially if Marshawn Lynch's legal troubles get the best of him.
The Bills' are having so much trouble selling tickets to their games that they are considering moving the team to Toronto. When your team is looking to move to Canada for a bigger market, there is something wrong. Only the Dolphins and Lions had worse attendance in terms of percent of seats sold. That's not something Owens is going to like. What fun is it to showboat in the end zone if you look up and see a lot of empty seats?
In conclusion, the Cowboys' decision to release Terrell Owens without trying to trade him and get compensation first was a bad move, as was Owens' decision to sign, less than 3 days later with a team where he will have competition for the ball, have to play with an average quarterback, which by Owens' standards is completely subpar, have a very slim chance at making the playoffs, and have to play in front of a lesser crowd in small market Buffalo. If Owens had waited, he might have gotten offers from Washington, San Francisco, or even Miami. Those are all teams that Owens would have fit better with and where he would have been able to win more games.
However, there are some positives with Owens with this signing. Its a one year deal. If he plays well and shuts up this season, and whether or not he does that will show me whether he is a shrewd business man or a complete egotistical idiot, he will have a chance, in the 2010 off season, to cash in with big money, with a big team. We'll see how this plays out.
The Cowboys move to cut him is a head scratching one. I'm not saying that Owens wasn't to blame for a lot of the Cowboys' problems, but he is still an elite receiver and, given how fast he came off the market after the Cowboys released him, if the Cowboys were to try and trade Owens instead of releasing him, they could have gotten at least a 3rd rounder in return.
They also wouldn't have had to take a 9 million dollar cap hit if they had traded him, which will hurt their chances of resigning DeMarcus Ware, their most important defensive player. Ware, who had 20 sacks last season, will be a free agent after the 2009 season if the Cowboys cannot reach an agreement with him. Ware is expected to command a contract worth more than the deal Jared Allen signed last off season, which was 6 year 74 million. The Cowboys could end up having to pay Ware more than 14 million a season, and releasing Owens actually hurt their ability to do so.
This is the 2nd head scratching move by the Cowboys this off season, the third if you count giving Roy Williams away for free without trying to get compensation first, though I don't think the market would have been huge for him. The Cowboys also traded Anthony Henry for Jon Kitna. That move did not make any sense. Trading for Kitna saves them no money. The Cowboys did need a backup quarterback, but you should never trade for a backup, especially if you have to give up a proven starter like Anthony Henry.
What makes this worse is the fact that the market this off season is full of backup quarterbacks. Ryan Fitzpatrick, Byron Leftwich, JP Losman, Kyle Boller, Rex Grossman, Gus Frerotte, Chris Simms, and Dan Orlovsky either were or still are all free agents this off season. It’s not like Kitna is that much better than any of them, especially when you consider Kitna's age, 36. Now the Cowboys have major holes at cornerback. With Adam Jones gone as well, they need to start 2nd year corner Mike Jenkins, who might not pan out right away. They also lack depth behind Jenkins and will have to address that either through the draft, where they have very few picks, or through free agency, where they are low on cap room if they want to keep Ware in town.
On a separate note, I applaud the Lions' front office for making the Henry-Kitna swap. Jon Kitna was serving no use to them. Even if the Lions do not draft a quarterback at some point in the draft, highly unlikely, they were still planning on going with Daunte Culpepper at quarterback, with Drew Stanton as the backup. Kitna was likely going to be released, but instead they got some compensation for him, which is more than I can say for the Cowboys in the cases of Roy Williams and Terrell Owens. Anthony Henry can be a solid starter in a secondary that badly needs it. They couldn't have been any worse than the last regime in Detroit, but so far, this new regime has done a good job, especially when you consider how the ripped off the Cowboys when they traded Roy Williams (the receiver) to the Dallas for a 1st and 3rd rounder. Maybe the Cowboys should take a page out of Detroit's book. How ironic.
Owens' decision to sign with the Bills was also a head scratching one. It doesn't seem like the right fit. Owens likes getting thrown the football, playing with accomplished, established quarterbacks, winning, and playing in front of a large crowd.
In Buffalo, Owens will have to contend with Lee Evans to get the football. Evans has been targeted at least 100 times in each of the last 3 seasons.
Owens' quarterback will be Trent Edwards. If Owens got annoyed with Jeff Garcia, Donovan McNabb and Tony Romo, imagine what will happen with Edwards. Edwards' quarterback rating of 85.6 last season is nothing but average. If you think that's bad, what happens when Edwards gets hurt. In 2 pro seasons, Edwards has missed 8 games. If he gets hurt again, Ryan Fitzpatrick takes over. In 13 starts last season for Cincinnati, in relief of the injured Carson Palmer, Fitzpatrick had a quarterback rating of 70.0 which is mediocre at best, especially when you consider the fact that he was playing with a great set of wideouts in Chad “Ocho Cinco” Johnson, TJ Houshmanzadeh, Chris Henry, as well as other young, promising talents like Jerome Simpson and Andre Caldwell. Simpson and Caldwell were both taken in the first 3 rounds of the 2008 NFL Draft, Simpson in the 2nd, Caldwell in the 3rd.
The Bills have one winning season since 1999. Unless their defense can stay healthy all year, they are going to have trouble getting a winning season this season as well. The Bills will play the AFC South and the NFC South next year, as well as every other last place AFC team. Their schedule, in no particular order, will look like this: New England (x2), Miami (x2), NY Jets (x2), Indianapolis, Tennessee, Jacksonville, Houston, Oakland, Cleveland, Atlanta, Carolina, Tampa Bay, and New Orleans. With the exception of Oakland and Cleveland, there are no easy games on that schedule. They are going to have a tough time winning more than 8 games next year, especially if Marshawn Lynch's legal troubles get the best of him.
The Bills' are having so much trouble selling tickets to their games that they are considering moving the team to Toronto. When your team is looking to move to Canada for a bigger market, there is something wrong. Only the Dolphins and Lions had worse attendance in terms of percent of seats sold. That's not something Owens is going to like. What fun is it to showboat in the end zone if you look up and see a lot of empty seats?
In conclusion, the Cowboys' decision to release Terrell Owens without trying to trade him and get compensation first was a bad move, as was Owens' decision to sign, less than 3 days later with a team where he will have competition for the ball, have to play with an average quarterback, which by Owens' standards is completely subpar, have a very slim chance at making the playoffs, and have to play in front of a lesser crowd in small market Buffalo. If Owens had waited, he might have gotten offers from Washington, San Francisco, or even Miami. Those are all teams that Owens would have fit better with and where he would have been able to win more games.
However, there are some positives with Owens with this signing. Its a one year deal. If he plays well and shuts up this season, and whether or not he does that will show me whether he is a shrewd business man or a complete egotistical idiot, he will have a chance, in the 2010 off season, to cash in with big money, with a big team. We'll see how this plays out.
Labels: Buffalo Bills, Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Lions, NFL, Terrell Owens, Trent Edwards
posted by Steven Lourie at
8:22 PM
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