Terrell Owens is close to signing with the Allen Wranglers of the Indoor Football League, Drew Pearson said Thursday. Pearson is the general manager of the Wranglers and a former Dallas Cowboys star receiver.
The team announced that they had formally offered Owens a contract for the 2012 season. The compensation package would be $250,000 up to $500,000, and include an ownership stake for T.O.
Pearson told KESN-FM that they have been working on the offer for quite some time. Though Owens initially wasn’t interested in the offer, Pearson says they’re 70% done and the deal is “close to being finalized.”
“T.O. is interested,” Pearson said. “It’s a deal that includes salary and ownership — I think that’s why he’s attracted to it.”
Asked if Owens can still play, Pearson was definitive.
“Oh yeah, there’s no question he can play. I think right now he’s probably better than half the receivers in the NFL.”
Wranglers coach Pat Pimmel told The Dallas Morning News, “At first everybody thought it was a big joke but it wasn’t a big joke. It’s serious. It’s real close. I think it will be within the next week or so. He would have never got his agent involved in it if he wasn’t thinking about it. He can still play, you know that.”
T.O. hasn’t played since injuring his knee with the Bengals last season. He underwent surgery to repair a torn ACL in June. Owens hosted a workout for NFL teams in October, but his conditioning was an issue and no scouts were in attendance. He recently tweeted interest in playing for the 49ers.
Here is a video of Owens’ October workout.
