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Money Talks; T.O. Walks

By Stat Man, Section NFL
Posted on Sun Aug 14 2005 at 4:16 PM EST
More on: (all tags)

By Adam Nelson

Drew Bennett of the Titans. Torry Holt of the Rams. Joe Horn of the Saints. Reggie Wayne of the Colts. Nate Burleson of the Vikings. All five of these wide receivers had nine or more touchdown grabs in 2004. What separates them from Terrell Owens, better known as "T.O."? Well, T.O's salary in 2004 ($9.16 million) is more than five million above the combined salary of the other five ($3.94 million). While the other five receivers are content with their contracts for this season and are not holding out for more money, T.O. is unhappy and is asking for more. Just doesn't fit, does it?

The Eagles must have seen this coming. Owens has never been- and likely never will be- a team player. He wasn't when he was in San Francisco, and he sure isn't in Philadelphia. He is a me-first player, and wants the spotlight and the focus of the fans all on himself. Now, just one season into a seven-year, nearly $49 million contract, Owens wants to renegotiate. It is absolutely ridiculous that T.O. wants more money, given the fact that he made more than all but one receiver in 2004 (Marvin Harrison of the Colts, who made about a million more than Owens).

Owens claims that he wants more money so he can "feed his family." Unless he's talking about trying to feed an entire Third-world country, what the heck is Owens talking about?

Just what exactly will it take for Owens to be happy? 15 million a year? 20 million? A cut of the team's gate receipts? A fully-loaded Hummer H2? A few Hawaiian islands? With the most hated sports agent of them all (Drew Rosenhaus) at his side, there is no end in site to Owens' contract squabble.

Just what did the Eagles get for Owens' $9.16 million salary? Well, here's how his salary breaks down against a few of his NFL counterparts, who all made millions less last season:

Nate Burleson, Minnesota Vikings: 68 catches for 1006 yards and nine touchdowns. 2004 Salary: $309,600. Breakdown: $4553 per catch; $34,400 per touchdown.

Torry Holt, St. Louis Rams: 94 catches for 1372 yards and ten touchdowns. Salary: $538,300. Breakdown: $5726 per catch; $53,800 per touchdown.

Joe Horn, New Orleans Saints: 94 catches for 1399 yards and 11 touchdowns. Salary: $702, 800. Breakdown: $7530 per catch; $63,981 per touchdown.

Drew Bennett, Tennessee Titans: 80 catches for 1247 yards and 11 touchdowns. Salary: $1,009,810. Breakdown: $12,622 per catch; $91,801 per touchdown.

Reggie Wayne, Indianapolis Colts: 77 catches for 1210 yards and 12 touchdowns. Salary: $1,376,000. Breakdown: $17,870 per catch; $114,667 per touchdown.

Terrell Owens, Philadelphia Eagles: 77 catches for 1200 yards and 14 touchdowns. Salary: $9,160,700. Breakdown: $118,970 per catch; $655,050 per touchdown.

It's obvious that it's time for the Eagles to rid themselves of this situation, and of Owens. He is doing nothing but bring the team down. They should call his bluff....and release him. No other team will take him. Who could possibly want a player like this, one who can rip his team to shreds and take all the credit for everything that goes right?

Owens may very well be spending his last few days in an Eagle uniform, and this sad saga may soon be over. For right now, though, the emotions of the Owens-Eagles drama are rising faster than the nation's gas prices.

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Money Talks; T.O. Walks | 14 comments (14 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

testify! (#1)
by iBalled on Sun Aug 14 2005 at 1:12 AM EST

Here's an idea. Turn off the idiot box. Don't buy the sports packages. Rediscover your love of amateur sports. Go to a AAA ball game. Turn on Arena football. Go watch real people competing for what me and you get paid a month. Watch how quickly the well will dry up when the turnstyles stop spinning and the TVs are off. No TV endorsement, no moolah. No moolah, no lucrative payments. No lucrative payments, no more TO. Then we can turn TO's burger flipping into a stadium event between 9 and 5am, Monday through Friday with two weeks off every year. His family will be able to eat as many burgers as they can handle.

that's awesome... (#2)
by Stat Man on Sun Aug 14 2005 at 1:48 AM EST

I love the reply...i think it's great! May this be the last we see T.O. in an NFL uniform. The league needs less T.O's and more Brett Favres, Kurt Warners and Warrick Dunns. To iBalled.... since you agree with my article, please give me a positive vote for it!

[ Parent ]

: done (#5)
by iBalled on Sun Aug 14 2005 at 3:33 PM EST

And done...

[ Parent ]
: before we're done... (#6)
by iBalled on Sun Aug 14 2005 at 3:37 PM EST

Hey stat man,
I'm not sure who else might be interested, be I would love to know what Shaq gets paid per dunk, Bonds per homer, Freddy Adu per goal (or performance for that matter)and Kobe per sexual "indescretion" (ring for wife included). I love to feel sick.
Cheers.

[ Parent ]

Hear that? I think I hear TO cryin'! (#3)
by ClassicRocker06 on Sun Aug 14 2005 at 12:41 PM EST

With all the drama surrounding the Eagles training camp within the last few days, it's hard to imagine that ANYONE wants Owens. Very good article, I liked the part "Unless he's talking about trying to feed an entire Third-world country, what the heck is Owens talking about?".. That was really good. I don't like Owens anyway, and I want him dumped by the Eagles and him to fade off into nothingness. I'm sick of all the media attention and his temper tantrums. What is he,5?
"I'd like to thank the Good Lord for making me a Yankee."-Joe DiMaggio

: it's completely ridiculous.... (#4)
by Stat Man on Sun Aug 14 2005 at 1:32 PM EST

T.O. asking for more money is like Bill Gates asking for change for the bus.

[ Parent ]

Computations (#7)
by BIGPHILLY on Mon Aug 15 2005 at 9:44 AM EST

I'd love to see what TO makes the first two years, three years combined.

Mortenson said that he is in the top 5 receivers in about 19 of 20 ways of crunching the numbers.

It's so stupid.

: To BIGPHILLY (#8)
by Stat Man on Mon Aug 15 2005 at 11:47 PM EST

Since you asked, these are courtesy of Phillyburbs.com:
Terrell Owens' salary for 2004-2010, minus workout bonuses of around 5-10 grand per season:
Signing Bonus- $8.9 million
2004- $9.16 million
2005- $3.25 million
2006- $770,000 plus $5 million roster bonus on opening day
2007- $5.5 million
2008- $6.5 million
2009- $7.5 million
2010- $8.5 million

[ Parent ]

T.O.'s gripe (#9)
by teeberg on Tue Aug 16 2005 at 1:50 AM EST

Randy Moss also made more $$$ last season than Owens. Both are wildly talented WRs, but it seems to me T.O. was the better team player: Not only does he catch magnificently, he blocks! And before this off-season, he wasn't nearly the distraction. Plain and simple, the Eagles should pay him what he's worth -- which is at least as much as Marvin Harrison. If they don't pay him -- or worse, if they Keyshawn Johnson him -- both sides of this dispute will be the losers. Without T.O., Philly's not getting anywhere near Detroit in February.

: Actually..... (#10)
by Stat Man on Tue Aug 16 2005 at 2:47 AM EST

http://asp.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/salaries/playersbyposition.aspx?pos=4&order=Salary+d esc
only Harrison made more than T.O. Click the link and you'll see. you are right about T.O. being more of a team player than Moss last season. If the Eagles cave, they only go and prove that every agent should be the cutthroat that Drew Rosenhaus is. Owens should be a MAN and honor the contract that he signed. Can we decide year by year if we should have a new president based on how they do in office? No. We have to wait every four years. We don't get to renegotiate whenever we feel like it. Owens shouldn't be able to either.

[ Parent ]

The Trouble With TO (#11)
by TheRussianBear on Tue Aug 16 2005 at 3:28 PM EST

...is that his salary gripe treats his current 3.25 million as existing in a bubble. It doesn't. His signing bonus is added to every year's base salary as money that the Eagles MUST pay. People act like you can just cut veterans willy-nilly without paying them a dime, but in reality they'd take monstrous cap hits that don't make such an option feasible. Contracts aren't guarunteed, but for logistical reasons, they're protected.

One of the more interesting takes on the situation was one I read this morning on SI.com:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writers/andrew_perloff/08/15/perloff.to.reaction/index.html
Item 6 discusses my main point, but the whole thing is a nice alternative to the otherwise annoying "The Sky Is Falling in Philadelphia!" theme on ESPN.

You're right.... (#12)
by Stat Man on Tue Aug 16 2005 at 3:36 PM EST

that it would be disastrous cap-wise to cut him loose, but the hard part will be finding someone to trade him to. Who would want this guy right now?

[ Parent ]

no it wouldn't (#13)
by Editor on Tue Aug 16 2005 at 4:53 PM EST

The Eagles are $10M under the cap and according to AP, his "contract makes him "eminently tradable," in the words of NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw, because it's structured in a way that the Eagles don't take much of a hit to their salary cap. That means, of course, that they don't take the hit if they cut him either"

I read somewhere that it would only be in the $1.5 range and Eagles are $10M under the cap.

[ Parent ]

: Good... (#14)
by Stat Man on Tue Aug 16 2005 at 10:36 PM EST

I hope they get rid of him then.

[ Parent ]

Money Talks; T.O. Walks | 14 comments (14 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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