After the flap last month about the hiring of new agent Drew Rosenhaus, Terrell Owens denied he was trying to strongarm the Eagles. Everyone called his bluff.
Well, today Owens
no showed the Eagles minicamp. I think this guarantees that Owens will hold out for more money. The question is whether this will carry on until August training camp. I believe the Eagles will end up adjusting Owen's contract and paying him more.
And note, he isn't the only one that didn't show up. Running back Brian Westbrook is trying to get a long term deal, and after finding out the Eagles only offered him a one-year deal for only $1.43 million, I don't blame him. That's a total insult considering that he was one of the key factors for the Eagles last season. I'm not saying he should be paid like a franchise player, but he deserves more than that.
Corey Simon is holding out too. Out of all of them, Simon has the best chance of getting traded.
Lastly Freddie Mitchell, of ALL people, is a no-show. I expect the waiver papers will be ready for him sometime next week. It's one thing to be a pain in the behind during the playoffs and the Super Bowl, but then to complain about not having a bigger role in the offense? You're done, dude. This little squeezeplay you're trying to pull on the Eagles while T.O. is running game isn't going to work.
UPDATE: You may recall a few weeks ago, T.O. took a
hidden jab obviously intended for Donovan McNabb:
"I played every snap they allowed me to play," Owens told ESPN.com. "I wasn't even running until, like, two weeks before the game. But I made sure I was in the best shape possible. I wasn't the guy who got tired in the Super Bowl."
At first, McNabb declined to comment on it. Today was a
different story:
"I don't play games in the media," McNabb said. "I'm not going to sit here and try to have a war of words. I'm a man at what I do. If there's a problem with anyone, and they feel the need to lash out, they know how to get in touch with me and we can handle it like men."
and this:
"If you say I was winded, if you say the (offensive) line was winded, if you say the defense was winded, that's fine," McNabb said. "But to be tired and dropping to a knee, that didn't happen."
Without mentioning Owens, McNabb had strong advice for his most loquacious teammate.
"Just keep my name out of your mouth," McNabb said. "Don't try to throw names or guys under the bus to better yourself. You never heard me say any names in any situation. You never heard me talk about any given players. I'm the guy to be professional and be a man about things."
McNabb said he hasn't spoken to Owens since hearing the inflammatory comments.
"If a comment was made about me, it would take that person to call me," he said. "I don't have to reach out to anyone."
Quite a few people, including myself, said Owens was a cancer to the Eagles, much like Bill Clinton has become one to the Democratic Party. Sure, it seems benign, maybe even cute, but sooner or later it's going to grow, and it's going to harm more than it helps. I never thought it would happen less than three months removed from the Super Bowl, though.
McNabb and Owens will kiss and make up, but only after the Eagles show T.O. the money.
