NFL Players Union Tries to Get Owens' Trade Rescinded

[Walter Cronkite]

The NFLPA is looking to overturn last week's trade of Terrell Owens from San Francisco to Baltimore.

The NFL Players Association plans to file paperwork this week in an attempt to rescind Terrell Owens' trade from the San Francisco 49ers to the Baltimore Ravens.

Gene Upshaw, executive director of the NFL players union, said Sunday he has informed Harold Henderson, the league's executive vice president for labor relations, of his intention to try to undo the Pro Bowl wide receiver's trade.

Upshaw said that if the matter can't be resolved, the union will ask Stephen Burbank, who is in charge of settling disputes regarding the NFL's collective bargaining agreement, to have Owens' contract voided so he can be declared a free agent.

Upshaw declined to comment further.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello confirmed that Henderson has spoken to Upshaw about the case but said there has been no resolution.

The Washington Post first reported the players' association's effort to have the trade rescinded on Sunday.

Owens said in an interview with ESPN on Friday that he wants to play for the Philadelphia Eagles, who are desperate for No. 1 receiver.

Owens' agent, David Joseph, did not immediately return a phone call from The Associated Press on Sunday.

The Ravens say they expect Owens to wear their uniform this season. Owens is scheduled to report Monday for a physical.

"We made a trade that was OK'd by the NFL," Ravens spokesman Chad Steele said Sunday. "We have a valid contract with Terrell and we expect him to play for the Ravens this season."

The Eagles reportedly agreed to a contract with Owens that included a signing bonus believed to be worth about $10 million. But Owens was traded Thursday to the Ravens for a second-round pick before Philadelphia could work out a trade with the 49ers.

Owens failed to become a free agent last month when he missed a deadline to void the final three seasons of his contract. Joseph filed a grievance with the NFL Management Council through the players' union in an effort to resolve that matter.

Owens caught 80 passes for 1,102 yards and nine touchdowns last season - his lowest totals since 1999. He has been selected to the last four Pro Bowls but has feuded with teammates, coaches, the 49ers' front office and the media.

Owens is due to make $17.7 million in base salary over the next three seasons, including $5.3 million next year -- a relative bargain for one of the NFL's best receivers.

He has spent all eight of his NFL seasons with the 49ers, who drafted him in the third round in 1996. He and Indianapolis' Marvin Harrison are the only receivers with more than 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns over the past four seasons.

Owens is known for a series of on-field celebrations and off-field conflicts. Two years ago, he pulled out a pen and signed a ball after scoring a touchdown in Seattle. He wasn't fined for the move but was chastised by commissioner Paul Tagliabue, who said he would be disciplined for any future stunts.

Source: AP

[Modern Arts]

Here's the deal:

First of all...

The 49ers screwed Owens, his agent and the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Eagles worked out a huge long term contract with him, including a huge bonus.

The 49ers agreed to a trade with Philly once they got the contract done with Owens...when the Eagles went back to SF to finalize the trade, they had already closed the deal with Baltimore.

Owens, his agent and the Eagles are furious and Owens is filing a grievance with the NFL against the 49ers.

He said on his website after the deal...."I am leaving alot of memories in San Francisco, but my heart is in Philly".

The Eagles are where he wanted to play all along and with no contract worked out with Baltimore....this may not be over yet.

[AndySMC]

With his attitude, and the fact that he publicly said he prefers to play in Philly, not Baltimore...even after the trade happened..

He will be a ticking timebomb IF he loses his grievance with the NFL against the 49ers and this trade.

Why would a young, cohesive team want a guy who doesn't want to play there ???

If "his heart is in Philly" as he himself said after this trade, how hard do you think he's gonna play in Baltimore.

Mark my words....He will never sign a contract with the Ravens unless they overpay him big time.

He is definitely not going to play for the current contract.

When a guy files a grievance because he doesn't want to play somewhere, why would that team want him ??

[Kellie-Girl]

IMO the logical choice is the Ravens. They pay their players well & they dont come up short when it comes down to it! I mean what does T.O. want? Go to the Super bowl or go to the NFC championship game?

[Walter Cronkite]

Will deal get done before arbitrator rules?

Under the terms of a deal that is being discussed among three teams, the NFL Management Council and the NFL Players Association, wide receiver Terrell Owens would be declared a free agent -- thus clearing the way for him to sign with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Sources tell ESPN's Sal Paolantonio that the San Francisco 49ers, Owens' former team, would receive a player and/or a draft pick from the Eagles. The player being prominently discussed is Eagles defensive lineman Brandon Whiting; with the signing of Jevon Kearse, the Eagles have a surplus of defensive ends. And the Baltimore Ravens, who earlier this month obtained Owens from the 49ers -- would receive a compensatory draft pick, either from the Eagles or from the league.

The hangup in the talks appears to be coming from Baltimore. The Ravens have been promised nothing higher than a fourth-round pick for dropping out of the picture, and those sources say the Ravens contend that the pick is not enough for losing Owens, whom they believe they traded for in good faith.

The 11th-hour discussions are being conducted while the NFL's special master, Stephen Burbank, contemplates the case argued before him in Philadelphia. Lawyers for the league and the NFL Players Association spent 2½ hours Monday at the University of Pennsylvania School of Law arguing whether Owens belongs to the Ravens or should be a free agent.

Burbank is expected to issue a ruling Tuesday.

All parties are being encouraged to make a deal, the sources tell Paolantonio. If the parties cannot agree to a deal and Burbank rules that Owens should be a free agent, the Ravens and the Niners would not receive compensation.

The sources also said that Ravens are concerned that if Burbank rules against Owens, he will drag out the process through an appeal. Owens has stated emphatically that he wants no part of playing in Baltimore.

Players Union executive director Gene Upshaw sounded very confident that Owens would win his case and be declared a free agent, Paolantonio reported.

Upshaw said that lawyers for the Players Union argued that Owens' contract with the 49ers clearly stipulates he can void the final years of his contract by March 15, or the end of the NFL's calendar year (March 2), whichever comes first.

The NFL argued that the deadline to notify the 49ers was Feb. 21, the date agreed upon by the union and the league.

Owens, who has spent eight sometimes controversial seasons with San Francisco, was supposed to become a free agent March 3. But his agent, David Joseph, failed to file papers voiding the final years of his contract by the Feb. 21 deadline.

The NFL ruled he belonged to the 49ers, who traded him to Baltimore for a second-round draft choice. Under terms of the deal being discussed Tuesday, the second-round pick would be returned to Baltimore.

Owens has said he does not want to play for the Ravens and the union appealed, contending Owens should become a free agent. Owens reportedly had settled on a $10 million signing bonus with the Eagles in expectation he would be traded there.

The Ravens have said they will renegotiate his contract, although they are under no obligation to do so if Burbank rules in their favor.

Source: espn