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Terrell Owens already wants a new contract from the Philadelphia Eagles before he starts his second season with the team.
Owens, who helped lead the Eagles to the Super Bowl in his first season in Philadelphia, is looking to renegotiate the seven-year deal worth almost $49 million he signed last March.
"This is not about me being greedy or selfish," Owens told The Philadelphia Inquirer for Thursday's editions. "I was called selfish for trying to come back and play in the Super Bowl. I just want people to think about what they're hearing from all these reports about me being greedy. Just take a moment and look at my stature in the game."
Owens set team records with 14 touchdown receptions and seven 100-yard games, and finished with 77 catches for 1,200 yards. He broke his leg and severely sprained his right ankle in Week 15 against Dallas, an injury that sidelined him until the Super Bowl.
Owens defied his doctor's advice by returning to the starting lineup against New England just 6½ weeks after ankle surgery, and was Philadelphia's best player on offense. He caught nine passes for 122 yards in the Eagles' 24-21 loss to the Patriots.
Owens fired longtime agent David Joseph and hired Drew Rosenhaus, who met with Eagles president Joe Banner last week. Last year, Joseph failed to file papers that would have made Owens a free agent from San Francisco. Instead, Owens protested a trade from the 49ers to Baltimore, refused to show up for a physical and eventually the three teams agreed to a trade before an arbitrator could rule on the case.
Rosenhaus, in an interview with Dan Patrick on the Dan Patrick Show on ESPN Radio, said Owens was forced to take a "sub-standard deal" with the Eagles.
"The NFL got him out of the trade [to Baltimore]," Rosenhaus said. "They brokered a deal to the Eagles, but he had to take a sub-standard deal because he had no leverage."
"Everyone knows my former agent settled for a low-ball number because of my situation last season when Baltimore traded for me," Owens said. "He told me he couldn't get a cent more, knowing I deserved more than they gave me.
"They used their leverage to strong-arm us because they knew I wanted to leave Baltimore for Philadelphia, and they capitalized on it. I can't go for that now. It's not in me to do that."
According to Rosenhaus, the contract Owens signed "sounds great on paper, but in the first two years of the deal he is not even in the top ten highest paid receivers in the NFL."
The playmaking, showboating, brash-talking Owens lived up to his hype in Philadelphia, delivering everything from his innovative touchdown celebrations to his outrageous antics -- including a steamy segment with actress Nicollette Sheridan for an intro to "Monday Night Football."
"I know I'm a top player in the game, and my current contract doesn't justify that," Owens said. "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, just 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?"
Rosenhaus echoed Owens' comments, pointing to teams' ability to part ways with players despite signing them to long-term contracts.
"He was nothing short of remarkable last year with the Eagles," Rosenhaus told Patrick. "He absolutely outperformed his deal. I've had many players ... [who] have been cut when they underperformed despite having just did a multi-year deal the year before like Hugh Douglas with the Jaguars.
"... Why can't we say that he outperformed this deal which was done under poor circumstances. What's wrong with that?"
Source: AP
Owens, who helped lead the Eagles to the Super Bowl in his first season in Philadelphia, is looking to renegotiate the seven-year deal worth almost $49 million he signed last March.
"This is not about me being greedy or selfish," Owens told The Philadelphia Inquirer for Thursday's editions. "I was called selfish for trying to come back and play in the Super Bowl. I just want people to think about what they're hearing from all these reports about me being greedy. Just take a moment and look at my stature in the game."
Owens set team records with 14 touchdown receptions and seven 100-yard games, and finished with 77 catches for 1,200 yards. He broke his leg and severely sprained his right ankle in Week 15 against Dallas, an injury that sidelined him until the Super Bowl.
Owens defied his doctor's advice by returning to the starting lineup against New England just 6½ weeks after ankle surgery, and was Philadelphia's best player on offense. He caught nine passes for 122 yards in the Eagles' 24-21 loss to the Patriots.
Owens fired longtime agent David Joseph and hired Drew Rosenhaus, who met with Eagles president Joe Banner last week. Last year, Joseph failed to file papers that would have made Owens a free agent from San Francisco. Instead, Owens protested a trade from the 49ers to Baltimore, refused to show up for a physical and eventually the three teams agreed to a trade before an arbitrator could rule on the case.
Rosenhaus, in an interview with Dan Patrick on the Dan Patrick Show on ESPN Radio, said Owens was forced to take a "sub-standard deal" with the Eagles.
"The NFL got him out of the trade [to Baltimore]," Rosenhaus said. "They brokered a deal to the Eagles, but he had to take a sub-standard deal because he had no leverage."
"Everyone knows my former agent settled for a low-ball number because of my situation last season when Baltimore traded for me," Owens said. "He told me he couldn't get a cent more, knowing I deserved more than they gave me.
"They used their leverage to strong-arm us because they knew I wanted to leave Baltimore for Philadelphia, and they capitalized on it. I can't go for that now. It's not in me to do that."
According to Rosenhaus, the contract Owens signed "sounds great on paper, but in the first two years of the deal he is not even in the top ten highest paid receivers in the NFL."
The playmaking, showboating, brash-talking Owens lived up to his hype in Philadelphia, delivering everything from his innovative touchdown celebrations to his outrageous antics -- including a steamy segment with actress Nicollette Sheridan for an intro to "Monday Night Football."
"I know I'm a top player in the game, and my current contract doesn't justify that," Owens said. "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, just 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?"
Rosenhaus echoed Owens' comments, pointing to teams' ability to part ways with players despite signing them to long-term contracts.
"He was nothing short of remarkable last year with the Eagles," Rosenhaus told Patrick. "He absolutely outperformed his deal. I've had many players ... [who] have been cut when they underperformed despite having just did a multi-year deal the year before like Hugh Douglas with the Jaguars.
"... Why can't we say that he outperformed this deal which was done under poor circumstances. What's wrong with that?"
Source: AP