T.O.: Not a good bet for you or the Raiders

By Anthony Carroll  |   Friday, March 06, 2009  |  Comments( 30 )

Oakland Raiders
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Don’t count on the Oakland Raiders to cure your financial troubles in this weakening economy.

There’s a new wager over at Sportsbook.com that has NFL risk-takers opening up their wallets: “Terrell Owens – 2009 NFL Regular Season – What NFL team will he play his first game with?”

The odds-on favorite: the Oakland Raiders.

Oakland’s fractional odds stand at 1/2 -- the only NFL team to not pay at least double your bet if correctly picked.

Put $50 on T.O. to land with the Raiders, and you’ll win just $25. Put that same $50 on the ex-Dallas Cowboy to land just across the Bay, back in San Francisco, and you’ll win $2,500. Even if you pick the rest of the field, which includes him not returning at all in 2009, you’d make $125.

So why is Vegas so optimistic about Owens sporting the silver and black next season?

Probably because anything – and I mean anything – is possible when it comes to Al Davis’ franchise. Owens is 35 years old, perhaps the most controversial player in the entire league and will cost a heck of a lot of money to sign. Not many NFL franchises are ready to take that package on.

A quick Google news search for “Terrell Owens” produces the following articles just within the first two pages of results:

• “Chicago Bears need to just say no to Terrell Owens” –Chicago Tribune
• “Source: 49ers not interested in Owens” –San Francisco Chronicle
• “Source: Giants have ‘zero’ interest in Terrell Owens” –The Examiner
• “New Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton squashes talk of Terrell Owens” –The Times-Picayune
• “Sources: Snyder, Cerrato Quickly Said ‘No’ to T.O.” –The Washington Post
• “TO released, but Jaguars not interested” –Florida Times-Union
• “Say no to TO” –San Francisco Chronicle

The moral of the story -- (or seven stories) -- Owens is a huge gamble that not many teams want to deal with.

Then there’s the case of the Raiders, a team that will take in any player, regardless of reputation, if Davis thinks he can make plays for his team.

Based on this offseason, though, and Davis’ most recent attempt to bring in a highly risky big-name receiver, every sign would point to Owens not landing with Oakland. The 79-year-old owner has already spent much of this offseason undoing an array of risky undertakings he took on for his franchise last offseason. On top of that, there’s still the Randy Moss episode to consider. Moss overstayed his welcome in Minnesota, joined up with the Raiders in 2005, played two miserable years, then left.

Plus, Javon Walker’s latest decision to stay with the Raiders would also seem to lessen the probability of T.O. signing with Oakland.

Thursday, Walker gave up a $5 million roster bonus that was due to him this week and cut his 2009 base salary from $4 million to $2 million and his 2010 base salary from $6 million to 2.6 million. His salaries for 2011, 2012 and 2013 also will drop with the new contract agreement. In all, the contract that just two days ago had $50 million left on it has now just $16 million left ($4.6 which is guaranteed through 2009 and 2010 salaries).

Still, Vegas will only reward you with half of your bet if you choose Oakland and Owens actually signs there.

“As bad as the Raiders are, they’ve proven they will pour money over to big names and he’d be a great fit in the most dysfunctional organization in the league,” Sportsbook.com spokesman Dave Staley said.

“Heck, the fossil Davis might still think it’s the 1970s and Coach John Madden will line Owens up next to Fred Biletnikoff.”

Ouch, Dave. Ouch. Big words for a gambling Web site’s spokesman.

Odds of Dave Staley ever showing up to and leaving a Raiders game in one piece: 50,000/1.
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About Anthony Carroll

Anthony Carroll began writing for RealFootball365.com on Sept. 26, 2005, making him one of the longest tenured contributors to the “365” team. As a senior writer, Anthony has taken on the task of delivering original content to the silver and black faithful year round, despite having to deal...
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CommentsComments: 30  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
Bermuda Raider		05:44 AM
03/06/2009
Just look at it this way, how much did the presence of TO help in the development of Tony Romo into a top tier QB in the league?...
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No.2
The Shape		07:38 AM
03/06/2009
I'm impressed the way Walker has laid down his contract and created cap room from us. At least he still has some marbles still...
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No.3
neil b		09:43 AM
03/06/2009
Whatever TO brings on game day you lose twice as much in the locker.I don't want TO in Oakland , but you just never know with Al.
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