Op-Ed: Terrell Owens to the Bears? Chicago Should Make it Happen

When Terrell Owens signed with the Buffalo Bills this off-season, there were plenty of eyebrows being raised. Buffalo seemed like an odd fit for a receiver who has had a hard time living peaceably with some of the better quarterbacks in the NFL.

The Buffalo Bills didn’t settle on their starting quarterback until this summer, and that starter has hardly distinguished himself as top notch. Former Stanford Cardinal Trent Edwards has had a very mediocre career since coming to the NFL, entering his third season Edwards has thrown as many touchdowns as interceptions (18) and has started off this season pretty much like one would expect. With Buffalo and Edwards, Owens had his 185 game streak in which he had at least one catch end. The former 49er, Eagle, and Cowboy is on pace for easily his worst statistical season, hauling in just 12 catches over five games. The Bills’ anemic offense hit a new low this Sunday, losing to the sad sack Cleveland Browns 6-3. Owens had four catches for 44 yards. Buffalo hasn’t scored more than one touchdown since their week two win over Tampa Bay. The offense has regressed as the season has gone on. Why wouldn’t Buffalo be looking to trade Terrell? And why wouldn’t the Chicago Bears be interested? Chicago made a splash over the off-season in acquiring Jay Cutler from the Denver Broncos. Cutler was touted as the best Bears’ quarterback since the glory days of the Jim McMahon, Super Bowl Shuffle era. After a season opening disaster in which Cutler threw four interceptions, and just one touchdown, Cutler has stepped into the role of team savior quite nicely. Since the Bears’ week one loss, Cutler has thrown seven touchdowns and just one interception, leading his team to three straight wins. The one thing the Bear offense is still lacking is a go-to receiver to make their passing game truly deadly. The Bears’ current wide receiver corps is a who’s who of unknowns, and players playing out of position. Chicago’s top receiver is second year man Earl Bennett. The former Vanderbilt Commodore appeared in 10 games a year ago, and coming into the season, didn’t have a catch to his name. On the opposite side of the field is Devin Hester. Hester made his bones as the best kick returner in the NFL, and an extremely mediocre defensive back. Last year Bears’ coach Lovie Smith began toying with the idea of moving Hester to the offensive side of the ball in order to better utilize his explosiveness. This is first season Hester has been a full time starter at the wide receiver position. So how good would Terrell look playing on the same offense as Cutler? It just might be the final piece in the Bears’ Super Bowl puzzle. Even better is that with the Bills in free fall mode, and Owens only under contract for one year, his selling price could be extremely cheap. Owen's play on the field might be suffering this season with a subpar offense, but his behavior off it has been surprisingly exemplary. Owens appears to finally understand that he’s got just one more bridge to burn, and his playing career is over. He has done and said the right thing after every tough loss. The man who has spent his career known as a club house cancer has been the picture of a team player during arguably the roughest stretch of his pro career. It appears that the Bears and Owens are a match made in heaven, and Chicago would be nuts to pass him up.