The T.O. Debate Continues At Valley Ranch Josh Ellis - Email
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
February 10, 2009 6:30 PM 
IRVING, Texas - At some point, everyone knew it would come to this. Of all the things facing the Cowboys before next season, deciding Terrell Owens' future with the team is without question the single most important.
Unfortunately for the Cowboys, it's as tough a decision as they'll ever have to make. Owens' talent and production level is undeniable, but so are the distractions and negative publicity his mere presence creates. As unpredictable as the star receiver's NFL career has been, the only certainty moving forward is that there will be more of the same.
For every point in Owens' favor, there is a convincing counterpoint, and vice versa. Maybe Owens' incessant barking gets in the head of Tony Romo and leads to diminished results. But then again, what has Romo ever done without Owens?
How can the Cowboys maximize the good that comes with T.O. - all the yards and touchdowns - while minimizing the negative effects of having him on the team? Is it even possible, or worth the effort?
Those are questions for Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to answer. Jones has recently invited several veteran players to his home in an attempt to fix the apparent divide between Owens and teammates, coaches and other members of the organization, as reported by Yahoo! Sports.
According to Dan Reeves, who nearly became a consultant for the Cowboys before talks fell apart last week, it's not just the players from whom Jones is seeking input.
"As I told Jerry when we talked about it, I'm an outsider, and certainly from an outsider's standpoint you feel like it's a distraction that you don't need," Reeves said during an interview on the Dallas-area ESPN Radio affiliate. "I did find out while I was down there that there are a lot of mixed feelings about T.O. within the organization. They've got to sit down and make a decision."
If Owens doesn't change, which would seem likely since there has been turmoil wherever he has gone, the Cowboys risk further discord in the locker room, particularly if the team is losing, or if he isn't producing individually. Jones seems to think all the recent drama and finger pointing is more a symptom of 2008's disappointing result than anything else.
"I do not buy this locker room severity," Jones said during an interview with the same ESPN affiliate. "That goes with the territory when you don't win. You start hearing it when you start not winning."
That would suggest Jones' preference is to keep Owens around so long as the receiver makes the team better. But the owner will have to weigh whether Owens' talent is equal or greater than the negative effects of the distraction he creates for teammates. Would a Cowboys team without Owens even be able to equal 2008's 9-7 record?
Brokering a peace is in Jones' best interest, since just last summer he signed Owens to a four-year, $34 million contract extension, with $13 million of it guaranteed. If keeping Owens around just won't work, and there's a compelling argument that's the case, releasing him would cost Jones $9.68 million. And never mind the fact that the money goes against the team's 2009 salary cap - it just isn't shrewd business to give away money while getting nothing in return, especially when there's a $1.1 billion mortgage to be paid on a house in nearby Arlington.
Keeping Owens would cost $680,000 less, and presumably the Cowboys would be getting another year of over 1,000 receiving yards and double-digit touchdowns. Owens is 35, and his performance will tail off eventually, if last season wasn't the beginning of such a downturn.
Statistically, 2008 was a step back for Owens, but 1,052 yards and 10 touchdowns is nothing to sneeze at, particularly when the guy who would inherit the No. 1 receiver mantle, Roy Williams, is coming off an even more disappointing season. Williams caught just 19 passes for 192 yards and one touchdown since coming over from Detroit at the trade deadline.
And really, as ineffective as Owens was at times in 2008, his statistics would probably have been better if not for poor quarterbacking during the three games Romo missed because of a finger injury. With Brad Johnson or Brooks Bollinger at the helm against the Rams, Buccaneers and Giants, Owens had yardage totals of 31, 33 and 36 yards, catching only one touchdown during that span. It's a good bet Owens would have been more effective if Romo were playing in those games, but then again that was only the middle of a five-game slump, the most dismal period since his rookie season. Owens put up only 36 yards on four catches in Week Six against Arizona, and had just 38 yards on five catches against Washington in Week 11 - both with Romo under center.
Owens didn't top 40 yards in half the Cowboys' games, as opponents played a lot of press coverage against him, giving their cornerbacks deep help from a safety. It started against Green Bay in Week Three, when the Packers held Owens to two catches for 17 yards, and the Cowboys never seemed to have an answer. After running back Felix Jones was lost for the season with a toe injury, the offense lacked a consistent home-run threat. Owens showed he could still stretch the field against different coverage, catching seven balls for 213 yards against San Francisco in Week 12, but after that outing teams mostly went back to double-teams, which Owens couldn't beat.
In theory though, the attention teams pay Owens should open things up for other receiving options, like Williams, Patrick Crayton and Jason Witten, but the Cowboys couldn't take advantage on a regular basis. If Owens is to return for the '09 season, the offense will have to do a better job of exploiting the mismatches he creates. The Cowboys should expect teams to defend Owens in the same way.
Another thing that won't change if Owens is retained is the invariable distraction of having him in the locker room. Even if Owens is a model citizen, his reputation subjects the Cowboys players and coaches to prodding and questioning, and eventually something will come out. As long as T.O. has a star on his helmet, he'll continue to be one of the most polarizing figures in sports, and the constant breaking news updates from outside team headquarters will be back, for sure.
The really tough part of the decision for Jones is that it's most likely a lose-lose situation. Keeping the star may only serve to deepen the rifts inside the organization, while letting him go will undoubtedly decrease the team's talent level. Somehow Jones has to figure out how to improve the team, even if the way they get better has nothing to do with Owens. The only thing that matters in this entire debate is whether the Cowboys get into the playoffs and win next season.
Because if the Cowboys flounder again, then a year from now everyone will say it's because Jones made the wrong decision regarding T.O.
