Could Terrell Owens Be Released from the Dallas Cowboys?

Improving locker room chemistry and morale of the Dallas Cowboys apparently is priority one for them this offseason. Just a few days ago Jerry Jones all but closed the door on Adam "Pacman" Jones' Cowboy, and possibly NFL, career after more news of the June 2007 strip-club incident was unveiled.

But even bigger news emerging this week is that the Cowboys are considering releasing arguably their most explosive playmaker in Terrell Owens.

While you could say a move like that could pay dividends in that department and help cure a divided locker room, I'd have to disagree about the publicly made notion of "diminished" skills.

Yes Owens is 35 and obviously not getting younger, but let's take a look at the stats from this past season and see where he ranks. But keep in mind that Owens also had to play without Tony Romo for three games due to a broken pinkie.

69 receptions for 1,052 yards and 10 touchdowns.

His 1,052 yards ranked 13th. And only four more wide receivers had more than 10 touchdowns, 12 leading the league. Obviously he isn't of Andre Johnson caliber anymore but stats like that you can't just throw away.

We can all tell that 2008 wasn't exactly a record breaking season for Owens—it may have even been the worst of his career. But I mean, let's be honest, do the Dallas Cowboys really have another wide receiver who can even get 1,052 yards and 10 touchdowns?

I don't see one.

You can make the argument that the wide receiver playing opposite of Owens is capable of that, yeah, the other Roy Williams. Williams has gone over 1,000 yards once in his five-year career and has never reached double-digit touchdowns.

Moving on, the possible release also has more involved than just locker room chemistry and stats. Let's not forget that only this past June did T.O. sign a $34M contract which contained $13M in guaranteed money and a $12M signing bonus.

Why would the Cowboys want to take a $9M cap hit in '09 to release Owens, when you could spend the same amount to keep him? Doesn't make sense to me. Keeping Owens around in '09 does.