Owens’ camp ready to begin discussing new deal with 49ers

[Gunzlingr]

As soon as the draft is over, the Niners aren’t expected to waste much time at all before focusing on a new deal for star WR Terrell Owens, who can void his current contract at the end of the 2003 season. And that’s just fine with Owens’ agent, David Joseph, who told PFW he’s prepared to begin talks in earnest whenever the Niners are ready. "We’ve had no talks with them at all since the end of the season," Joseph said. "Obviously, with their coaching situation, they’ve had other pressing matters. It seems like a pretty good time to do something, though, because they really only have one or two free agents to deal with this year. Their cap situation never seems to be very good, but signing Terrell could give them some short-term cap relief. It could be real ugly at the end of next year if we haven’t gotten anything done. They’ll have a bunch of free agents coming up and a lot of unattributed cap money to worry about in 2004. They could place a franchise tag on Terrell, but a one-year player carrying a big price tag isn’t going to do anybody any good." Joseph said Owens would prefer not to negotiate once the season begins. He also said his client is excited about the prospect of a more downfield attack under new head coach Dennis Erickson — whom Owens coincidentally sat next to on an Oregon plane trip right around the time Erickson was hired — and has been giving his body a well-deserved rest. "He was a little beat up at the end of the year and probably shouldn’t have played in the Pro Bowl," Joseph said of Owens. "He’s done the right things. He’s got a brand new gym in his backyard, and all he’s done is shoot (baskets). He hasn’t run up and down the court at all. He’s really serious about getting himself healthy."

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