In March of last year, Terrell Owens was traded first to the Baltimore Ravens, but then decided he'd rather be with the more competitive Philadelphia Eagles. Skip Bayless, then still with The San Jose Mercury (he's now with ESPN) had covered Owens' hijinks with the 49ers. (Which included the Sharpie Incident, the Pom-Pom Incident, the dancing on the Dallas Cowboys' Star Logo at Center Field Incident, etc.) He predicted that that Terrell would cause a fair amount of headaches and sleepless nights for Eagles head coach Andy Reid:

Shortly into a Tuesday news conference that felt more like a Super Bowl celebration, Philadelphia Eagles Coach Andy Reid made the mistake of calling his new savior Ter-RELL.

Sitting next to Reid, perhaps for the last time, Terrell Owens interrupted his new scapegoat -- sorry, coach. ``It's TERR-ell,'' said Owens, playfully slapping Reid on his back.

As tough a disciplinarian as Reid is, the man has no idea what he has gotten himself into. Neither, for that matter, does his ``savior.''

Be careful what you wish for, Philadelphia. You, too, T.O.

Bayless was right on both counts, but a season too soon. After a relatively benign first year that saw Owens become QB Donovan McNabb's primary target, Owens has demanded that his contract be reworked.

Why? For his family, which seems like a rather odd argument (but definitely of the moment, as S. T. Karnick recently noted). Owens and his family currently live in the attractive south Jersey suburb of Moorestown. It's a nice era (and an old stomping ground of mine), but it's a safe bet that the average working man can eke by there on $49 million (which includes a $7.5 million roster bonus that kicks in next off-season) that Owens will receive under his current contract with the Eagles.

So should he get a raise? Right now, the Eagles, who have become the dominant team in the NFC thanks to their shrewd handling of the salary cap, are having none of it. As Rick Gosselin of The Dallas Morning News wrote in late July (subscription may be required):

If the Eagles redo Owens, what’s to stop Donovan McNabb from marching in and demanding that his contract be reworked? Then Jevon Kearse? Then Brian Dawkins? If you renegotiate the contract of one unhappy star, you’ll soon have a bunch of unhappy stars on your team who are going to want their contracts redone as well.

That’s why the Eagles are drawing the line with Owens. He agreed to a seven-year contract last summer and received $9.16 million from the Eagles in 2004 in salary, signing bonus and roster bonus. There are no such bonuses in Year 2 of his contract, so he stands to receive just his base salary of $3.25 million in 2005.

Owens liked playing football a lot more when he was receiving $9 million a year. Who wouldn’t? But Owens knew the terms of the contract when he signed. He knew there’d be less money in the second year. If he wasn’t prepared to live up to the terms of the contract, why sign it?

The Eagles didn’t win a Super Bowl before Owens arrived. And they didn’t win one last year with him. In fact, the Eagles won two playoff games to reach the Super Bowl without Owens. The Eagles were a good team before Owens arrived and they’ll be a good team after he’s gone.

This is a franchise that knows how to run a successful business. There’s no one better at the salary cap than Joe Banner, and Philadelphia does a great job of drafting to keep young players stacked in the queue.

The Eagles allowed four Pro Bowl players to leave in the last three years: pass rusher Hugh Douglas, cornerbacks Troy Vincent and Bobby Taylor and guard Jermane Mayberry. They had one thing in common: all were over the age of 30. That’s Salary Cap 101 – do not pay age. Owens turns 32 this season. So don’t look for the Eagles to back down on this one.

As a result, Owens has been, needless to say, a tremendous distraction to the Eagles in training camp this year. How bad? Well, in the story's latest twist, Reid sent him home for a week yesterday, as Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports writes:

When Terrell Owens said nearly three weeks ago that he was planning to report to training camp unhappy, you figured it was only be a matter of time before the Philadelphia Eagles took on the mindset of their disgruntled receiver.

So in one respect, Wednesday's news – Owens left training camp after an apparent run-in with coach Andy Reid – was inevitable.

There are conflicting reports about what exactly transpired on Wednesday. But the root of the problem remains money – and Owens' deteriorating manner since reporting for preseason practices.

After the season-ending injury to wideout Todd Pinkston, Owens' value to the Eagles, which already was high, shot through the stratosphere. In turn, there was speculation that he and agent Drew Rosenhaus might seize the opportunity to further press the issue of Owens' desire to renegotiate his contract. There has been some not-so-whispered speculation that Owens could even attempt to drag out his groin rehabilitation to force the issue.

On Wednesday, the situation hit its apex. According to a report on WIP-AM in Philadelphia, former Eagles linebacker Gary Cobb claimed that a Philadelphia player attributed the disagreement between Reid and Owens to the receiver's morning workout. According to Cobb, the Eagles player stated that Owens had been told to take the morning off, and that Reid was upset when Owens took the field – away from the rest of the team – and was running pass routes at full speed.

According to Cobb, Reid suggested that if Owens were healthy enough to run full-bore passing routes then he should have been practicing with the team. From there, Cobb said, an argument ensued and eventually led to Owens' ejection from camp.

There are other reports that suggest Owens and Reid fought over Owens' ducking of an autograph session with fans, but Cobb's account sounds far more plausible. It's no secret that Owens has closed himself off from the team – just last week, quarterback Donovan McNabb said that the two hadn't spoken and that their relationship had developed into a business association.

The Owens situation has placed Reid under immense pressure. The Eagles coach has been deflecting questions about whether Owens missing practice had anything to do with his contract problems. But when Owens continued to stay away from the team and appeared to be healthy during his rehabilitation stints and his Wednesday appearance, Reid was put in an awkward situation.

The least believable account has come from Rosenhaus, who suggested during a guest spot on Wednesday's "Late Show with David Letterman" that Reid gave Owens time off to further rehabilitate his injury.

Whatever the case, there are multiple outcomes now in play. A trade of Owens seems unlikely because his reputation and value have been so severely damaged over the last few months. Even teams that are only one or two impact players away would likely be scared off by the "cancer" label that has firmly attached itself to Owens.

Owens' $49 million contract (with a $7.5 million roster bonus that kicks in next offseason) makes him even more unappetizing for teams because of the salary cap problems it would cause before the 2006 season.

A more likely scenario now seems to be the Eagles taking the next week to mull over whether they can continue to keep Owens in the fold – or more importantly, whether Pinkston's injury gives them no other choice. It's almost certain Philadelphia will look to part ways with him after this season, and if the team triggers a clause in his contract to recoup $1.7 million of his signing bonus for actions detrimental to the team, then expect his career in Philadelphia to be over effective immediately. The intentions of both sides should become clear in the next seven days.

But no matter what happens, the damage has already been done. Owens arrived unhappy and now the Eagles are in the same state of mind. Everyone has lost.

Whatever the outcome of this, it's going to be another fascinating year for the Eagles.