Browns GM Tom Heckert Squashes Terrell Owens To Cleveland Rumors

As the Cleveland Browns ready themselves for OTAs on May 17, one of the most talked about issues is the lack of a veteran leader among a very young core of wide receivers.

Laveranues Coles, Roy Williams, Patrick Crayton and Terrell Owens are all names that have been brought up to fill that gap for the Browns.

Williams may cost too much in trade value and salary.  Coles is a possibility, having played for head coach Eric Mangini when both were with the New York Jets.  Crayton may be the best value out of all the names that have been mentioned.

Owens, though, has history with Browns general manager Tom Heckert when both were with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Bad history.

Who can forget how that ended, with Owens having helping the Eagles reach the Super Bowl only to follow that up with by getting kicked off the roster one year later due to in-house drama?

Heckert of all people know how much of a cancer Owens can become and there would be no reason for him to bring Owens onto a rebuilding team like the Browns.

Not only could Owens single-handedly turn the franchise and locker room around in a negative manner in less than a year, as he did with the Eagles, but his bad habits could also rub off on the younger receivers who are very impressionable this early in their NFL careers.

Heckert has taken the initiative to tell the media all the Owens talk is just talk and will not happen and Owens "is not on our radar."

"That’s not the direction we’re headed. There’s a lot of factors that go into that. I think at this stage of his career, this isn’t a place he’d be looking at. We don’t plan on talking to him,” said Heckert according to cleveland.com.

Browns fans thank you for setting the record straight.