The San Francisco 49ers considered exposing Terrell Owens to the expansion draft, but decided not to after a proposed deal with the Houston Texans and a third team fell through.
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A 49ers spokesman said late Monday that the club's list of five unprotected
players, which all teams had to submit by Tuesday afternoon, has already been turned into
the league and that Owens was not on it.
"We're not doing that," general manager Terry Donahue told Tuesday's San Jose Mercury News.
The move would have ended Owens' stormy tenure in San Francisco, which has included a rift with coach Steve Mariucci.
In fact, Owens' unhappiness with Mariucci reached the point where his agent asked the 49ers to include him on the unprotected list, the San Jose Mercury News reported on Saturday.
The request by David Joseph was turned down immediately, Donahue told the newspaper.
Though Owens aimed a fresh round of criticism at Mariucci, Donahue said he hopes Owens and Mariucci can resolve their differences in a meeting after the Feb. 9 Pro Bowl.
According to league sources, the team had seriously considered including Owens on the list over the past week under a plan where the Texans would have selected the two-time Pro Bowler, and then traded him to a third team. Sources said that the 49ers and Texans had been discussing the
maneuver, but added that Owens wouldn't be on the
expansion list unless Houston agreed to definitely choose him in the
stocking draft and send him to another team.
"If the deal (with Houston) isn't in place, he isn't going anywhere," said one source before the 49ers made their decision.
The expansion draft will take place Feb. 18.
The proposed deal between the Texans and 49ers would have been a tricky one,
but also one that could have benefited both franchises. The departure of Owens would have excised a player who has openly warred with Mariucci for more than a year. And it would have allowed San Francisco to escape severe salary cap ramifications while creating more than $6
million of additional space under the projected 2002 spending limit of $71.8 million.
The Texans would have immediately assumed Owens' 2002 cap charge of $6.06
million. When the expansion franchise traded him, the cost would have
ballooned to $8.734 million because of so-called "acceleration" of remaining
prorated signing bonus charges.
But the Texans, who would probably have
swapped Owens for a package that included at least one first-round draft
choice, could have assumed such a steep salary cap hit because they are
essentially starting from scratch in amassing charges.
"Do you know how hard it is to go from zero to over $70 million in cap
charges in one year?" said a league source. "That's a (lot) of cap room to
fill. So for one year, you carry a charge of $8 million, or whatever Owens
costs. That eats up cap space Houston has anyway. Plus they get some
high-round choices in return. To them, that's a lot more important than the
cap charge and, poof, the charge goes away altogether in 2003."
The 49ers could have cut out a middleman and traded Owens
themselves, but they would have taken the $8.734
million in "accelerated" charges on the salary cap.
Houston has become, ostensibly, a potential clearinghouse for teams to
unload players with lofty cap charges. The Texans must assume the full cap
impact attached to any of the veterans that they choose in the expansion
draft. It provides existing teams a unique opportunity to unload some of
their overpriced veterans from the books, which is why some observers feel
the lists of exposed veterans will include some high-profile players.
The Texans have discussed deals with other teams about which players they
could be interested in selecting off the exposed lists.
Owens, 28, signed a contract extension in 1999 that ran through the 2006
campaign. But because he achieved predetermined playing time levels, the
2004-2006 seasons were voided. He is now under contract through 2003.
He is scheduled to earn a base salary of $3.6 million in 2002, with a cap
value of $6.06 million. His cap value for 2003 is $6.66 million, with a base
salary of $4.2 million.
The rift between Owens, a third-round choice in the 1996 draft, escalated in
2000 when the wide receiver was fined for his theatrics in a game at Dallas, when he celebrated on the Texas Stadium star at midfield. This season, Owens suggested
that Mariucci may have held back in a game at Chicago, because he is a close
friend of Bears coach Dick Jauron, in a contest the 49ers lost in overtime.
Owens has said that he would forgive Mariucci for fining him in 2000 but
that he would never forget the sanction.
Following the 49ers' season-ending loss at Green Bay in the wild-card round
of the playoffs last week, Owens claimed the San Francisco game plan did not
feature him enough.
Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.
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