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Terrell Owens may be forced to stay in San Francisco

Pro Bowl receiver Terrell Owens' free-agent status remained in doubt on Friday because of a procedural error that keeps him with the San Francisco 49ers for now.

But the free-agent market, which opens on Wednesday, gained a number of lesser players as teams continued to make cuts to get under the NFL's US$80.6 million salary cap.

Owens and another wide receiver, Dennis Northcutt of Cleveland, expected to be free agents. But their agents failed to file letters with their teams voiding the final years of their contracts by the league-imposed deadline. So they remain the property of their current teams.

Owens' agent, David Joseph, was preparing an appeal to the NFL management council, claiming that the filing date to void contracts had recently been moved forward 10 days -- in Owens' case to Feb. 21.

Owens, meanwhile, told Sporting News Radio he doesn't know if he will demand a trade if he's forced to remain with San Francisco.

"Right now, I just want to be put in the situation where I am able to succeed as a person and basically take my talent through the roof," he said. "I want to go to a team that has a championship in mind. Right now, I don't really know what direction the organization is going in."

Joseph has filed a grievance with the NFL management council through the players' union, but a hearing hasn't been scheduled. Owens blamed the league and the 49ers for his predicament.

"I can assure you that neither my agent nor myself made a mistake like this," Owens told Sporting News Radio. "For people to go out and say my agent made a mistake is utterly ridiculous and insane."

Meanwhile, another big-name free agent, Warren Sapp, said he would like to remain with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with whom he has made the Pro Bowl seven times in nine seasons.

"It's not about the money," he said. "I collected US$40 million in the last nine years. I'm not going to sit here and tell you I should command a US$30 million or US$100 million deal."

The Bucs are trying to restructure contracts just to get under the cap.

"We're going to have to see what happens," general manager Bruce Allen said. "Warren's been a Buc through some tough times and some great times. He's part of this neighborhood. He likes this neighborhood. He likes this coaching staff.

"He's going to see what free agency is and we'll take it from there."
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