Will Ravens Go All The Way Next Year?

[GameCock82]

Will the ravens make it to the superbowl next year. With Terrell owens and possibly warren sapp. They could be unstopable, with ed reed on the rise and there great linebackers i could definetly see them at least making it to the playoffs.

What do you think?

[Pat]

with a controversy surrounding jamal lewis and a questionable quarterback situation i have to say no, but they have a chance

[mac]

no and you why beause the bengals are in there division. Seriously, not joking, totally not kidding the bengals will win there division next year.

[NJTank]

Let me think about this for a minute

Not a chance

[Fusebazell]

How bout NO

[Fusebazell]

TO is already upset and he hasn't even been there a week. He wanted to be an eagle.

ESPN.com news services

PHILADELPHIA -- Even though he was traded to Baltimore, Terrell Owens says he is unsure whether he will report to the Ravens and still hopes to catch passes from Donovan McNabb in Philadelphia next season.

One day after the San Francisco 49ers sent the four-time Pro Bowl receiver to the Ravens, Owens told ESPN's Andrea Kremer he's not happy with the deal and plans to file a grievance.

"This is about me getting a fair shot at a team that I want to go to. Baltimore is definitely one of my choices, but Philly was my 'A' choice, my priority on my list," Owens said in an interview with Kremer late Friday night. "I talked to my agent earlier and we're going to file a grievance for the situation and we're going to hope for the best possible situation."

Chad Steele, a spokesman for the Ravens, said Saturday: "We have a valid contract with Terrell and we expect him to play for the Ravens." He declined to answer any other questions.

Desperate for a No. 1 receiver, the Eagles reportedly agreed to a contract with Owens that included a signing bonus believed to be worth about $10 million. But the volatile receiver was traded to the Ravens for a second-round pick Thursday before Philadelphia could complete a trade with the 49ers.

Eagles president Joe Banner told reporters on Saturday that while he didn't believe San Francisco "handled it the right way" by trading Owens to Baltimore after giving the Eagles permission to talk to Owens' agent, Banner didn't feel the Eagles had much recourse.

"I don't think what San Francisco did was against league rules," Banner said. "But I'm very disappointed that we were given permission to work something out and then they made this trade without giving us the chance to talk about anything else."

"What everybody did was certainly legal," Banner added. "San Francisco did control his rights and did have the right to trade him."

San Francisco general manager Terry Donahue said Eagles coach Andy Reid offered a fifth-round pick and wide receiver James Thrash for Owens.

"We had no interest in that whatsoever," Donahue said.

Donahue said he countered with a list of other players he'd want for Owens, but the teams couldn't agree on a deal.

"I told Andy we were going to move really quick and that we had a second-round pick and that if he had any further interest to call me back," Donahue said.

"I'm just as shocked as everyone else," said Owens in a Baltimore Sun report. "We were on the cusp of having something worked out with the Eagles and then the unfortunate happened within a matter of minutes."

Two Eagles sources told the Philadelphia Inquirer that the team reached a financial agreement with Owens and were about to contact the 49ers when they heard about the trade to the Ravens on television.

The sources said the Eagles had been pleasantly surprised at the financial deal, since Owens had reportedly been seeking a signing bonus equal to or exceeding $18 million -- the same bonus Randy Moss received from Minnesota in 2000, the Inquirer reported.

"I want to go where I feel comfortable and where I can be happy. I don't want to go anywhere where someone just trades me off to," Owens said. I feel like I'm entitled as a free agent to have my choice. Obviously I want to get paid, but at the same time, I want to get happy, too."

Owens told Kremer, "He [Donahue] knows he doesn't want to see me on an NFC team."

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

A source in the NFL office told the Inquirer that Joseph has not yet filed a grievance in protest of Owens' trade to Baltimore, and that the league considers the trade a done deal.

Owens contends he received no notification about the date change that resulted in his lost free agency, and isn't being treated fairly by the NFL or the players' association.

"We're not idiots," Owens said. "This is something we've been waiting on. The 49ers have known that I was more than possibly going to void my contract. There's been a lot of backstabbing going on the last couple of years.''

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 while feuding 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.

When asked by Kremer if he would report to the Ravens, Owens said, "at this point I can't say what I am going to do."

The Eagles had perhaps the league's worst starting receivers, Thrash and Todd Pinkston. The duo combined for just 85 catches and three TDs last season. In Philadelphia's 14-3 loss to Carolina in the NFC championship game, Thrash had one catch and Pinkston had none.

The Eagles, who have lost the conference title game the last three years, upgraded their defense by signing three-time Pro Bowl defensive end Jevon Kearse to a $66 million, eight-year deal. But they still need a top target for McNabb, who has openly campaigned for the team to acquire Owens.

Owens 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 also 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 severely chastised by commissioner Paul Tagliabue, who said he would be disciplined for future stunts.

Owens also precipitated a melee during a game by dancing on the Dallas Cowboys' star at midfield after scoring.

He threw a sideline tantrum during a game against Cleveland last season, and lost it again the following week against Minnesota, chewing out offensive coordinator Greg Knapp after the 49ers were stopped on a fourth-and-1 running play.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

[NJTank]

TO is a Major League A-Hole

[Fusebazell]

TO is a Major League A-Hole

That may be true, but as McDonalds would say "I'm lovin it"

[STL FANATIC]

I don't really care what happens that much with his situation. He's a talent, but just a spoiled athlete.

[Phil]

no and you why beause the bengals are in there division. Seriously, not joking, totally not kidding the bengals will win there division next year.

One thing that's turned me off to the Bengals is how they've treated Kitna.

Finally he has some semblance of a a team to play with, and did quite well last year, and they're already tossing him aside in favour of Palmer. Now, nothing against Palmer, he deserves a shot, but why not let them work things out in training camp/pre-season, instead of saying that Palmer's your #1 guy, without a doubt?

Let the man fight for the job he earned last year.

...and I agree with STL... Terrell Owens may be a good athlete, but he's resembling Keyshawn more and more (except maybe with a little more talent, which makes it even more ridiculous).

[See Red]

Yep. STL, knows what's up.

And anyone who says they're going to the Super Bowl is forgetting that TO is a plague. And honestly, if he's bashing Boller about not throwing him the ball enough, like in years past -- I'd hate to see the 2nd year Vet try forcing it to him.

Is Owens good? Yes. Great even? Probably. Does he give you 100% on EVERY snap? Yes. But he is a plague with his mouth.

Terrell Owens isn't an a'hole. He's actually a really nice guy I've heard; and as weird as it may sound, by arguments with his coaches, all he's trying to do is help. He just chooses the wrong way to go at it. I heard him say, once, I think after the Seattle game in which he used the Sharpie that he just gets so frustrated when he's not being given a chance to give his team a chance to win.

Oh, and Warren Sapp is just about as overrated as you can get. Not to mention the attention he draws on his teams is ridiculous.

Additionally, the most talented teams don't win Super Bowls. It's the teams that work as a team with grat coaching. Hell, look at the last few years.

[Fusebazell]

TO now wants the trade nullified

ESPN.com news services

It appears that Terrell Owens won't be the only party attempting to nullify the trade that sent him from the 49ers to the Baltimore Ravens.

The NFL Players Association plans to file what is known as a "special-master case" in the next few days to nix Thursday's trade and have Owens declared a free agent, union chief Gene Upshaw told The Washington Post for Sunday's editions.

Upshaw met with Harold Henderson, the NFL's executive vice president for labor relations, on Saturday. Upshaw and Henderson, who also serves as chairman of the NFL Management Council, were scheduled to speak again Sunday, according to The Post.

If the two cannot reach a resolution in the disputed trade of Owens, a four-time Pro Bowl performer, the union will then move to void the final three seasons of Owens' contract, Upshaw told The Post.

Upshaw said that if his meetings with Henderson do not resolve the dispute, the union will then submit its request to special master Stephen B. Burbank.

A special-master case is a trial-like proceeding and differs from the usual grievance process, in which the parties present their cases to an arbitrator.

Burbank, who is in charge of settling disputes regarding the league's collective bargaining agreement, would then have the power to void Owens' current deal, making it possible for the receiver to negotiate with any team he chooses, the newspaper reported.

"We think, at this point, that's the only case we can file," Upshaw said. "That's what we'll do the early part of next week. I want to talk to Harold Henderson in the early part of next week to see if there's something the parties can work out short of that proceeding. If not, that's what we'll do."

In the interim, the Ravens will also likely have a chance to rescind the trade. Owens is scheduled to report to the Ravens on Monday to take a physical, but a source told The Post that Owens will refuse to show up.

Since all players must pass a physical before their trade can be completed, the Ravens could choose to overturn the trade or waive that provision if Owens fails to take the exam.

The Ravens, if the trade is nullified, would have the second-round pick in the upcoming draft -- which they sent to San Francisco for Owens -- returned to them. At that point, Owens would also become an unrestricted free agent.

Owens failed to become a free agent when he and his agent, David Joseph, missed a Feb. 21 deadline to exercise a clause in Owens' contract that would void the final three seasons of his deal.

The Eagles reportedly agreed to a contract with Owens that included a signing bonus believed to be worth about $10 million and would have paid Owens more than $6 million a year. That deal was supposed to be a precursor to a trade that would have sent Owens from San Francisco to Philadelphia in exchange for a fifth-round draft pick and likely wide receiver James Thrash.

But Owens was traded to the Ravens for a second-round pick Thursday before Philadelphia could complete a trade with the 49ers.

Under Owens' current contract, he is due to make $17.7 million in base salary over the next three seasons -- $5.3 million next season, $5.9 million in 2005 and $6.5 million in 2006. The Ravens said Thursday they would try to negotiate a new deal with Owens, but those efforts have been impeded by the Eagles' proposal, according to the Post..

Upshaw refused to elaborate on the details of the union's case Sunday, but a source familiar with the proceedings told the Post that the union will concede that the receiver's agent, Joseph, made a mistake by failing to file the paperwork in time to make Owens a free agent.

According to the Post's sources, the union intends to argue that Owens should be declared a free agent because it had been known his intention was to leave the 49ers.

League sources, however, have said the NFL considers Thursday's trade legal and a done deal, and sees no reason to overturn it.

According to the terms of the NFL's collective bargaining agreement, the special master's decision is subject to review by U.S. District Judge David S. Doty, who over sees the CBA.

[See Red]

I think that's crap. I don't care who he wanted to be traded to. There's NOTHING in his contract that says he has to be happy with a trade he's involved in.