Eskimos: T.O. off negotiation list

Terrell Owens won’t be kickstarting his pro football career with the Edmonton Eskimos.

Edmonton released the 44year-old former NFL receiver from its negotiation list on Friday. That leaves Owens free to sign with other CFL teams.

Earlier this month, Owens activated a 10-day window to receive a contract offer from the Eskimos by Tuesday. Edmonton placed Owens, who last played in the NFL in 2010, on its 45-man negotiation list on June 19, shortly after he posted a video of himself running a 4.43-second 40yard dash.

Jason Staroszik, the Edmonton-based agent handling Owens’ CFL negotiations, said the Eskimos’ decision won’t dampen the receiver’s enthusiasm about resuming his pro football career in Canada.

“It’s definitely not over,” he said. “Terrell could still sign as a free agent with any team that’s interested. “We might see another team put him on their negotiation list. Hopefully there’s another team with an interest, I feel there is, so we’ll see what happens.”

Owens has been out of football since 2012 when he had 35 catches for 420 yards and 10 TDs over eight games with the Allen Wranglers of the Indoor Football League. Owens signed with the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks during training camp that year, but was released.

Once the 10-day window was activated, Edmonton had four options: offer Owens a contract; trade his rights; release him prior to the end of the 10-day period; or make no offer over the 10-day period, at which time he would’ve been released automatically from the Eskimos negotiation list.