Terrell Owens is stating that Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones backed out of a commitment he made to keep the receiver in Dallas.

“You hear all the speculation, and you talk to the owner of the team, and he reassures you, you’re not going anywhere and then, out of left-field … you get blindsided,” Owens, 35, said in an interview with Rogers Sportsnet, to be broadcast tomorrow evening.

“I know whole-heartedly he [Jerry Jones] wanted me there,” Owens said. “There were some people I know who got in his ear that pressured him to make that decision. For that, it’s sad. You let two or three people conspire to get me out of the situation.”

T.O. might have a toxic personality and can be the ultimate pain in the ass, but he’s not stupid. I believe Owens when he says Jones backed out of a commitment to keep him a Cowboy and no doubt had pressure from others inside the organization to release him. In some ways, the release of Owens was a surprise considering one week prior, Jones was essentially telling the media that T.O. wasn’t going anywhere. So quite frankly, I don’t blame Owens for feeling blindsided by the whole ordeal, even though everyone knew that his release this offseason was always a possibility.

CBSSports.com is reporting that Bills’ running back Marshawn Lynch is expected to be suspended one to two games next season.

Lynch earlier this month pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor gun charge stemming from a Feb. 11 arrest in Culver City, Calif. According to the police report, Lynch was one of three men seated in a parked Mercedes Benz when he was questioned.

At the time, he was charged with possession of a concealed firearm. But the felony gun charge later was reduced to three misdemeanors — with two of them dropped. Lynch was sentenced to three years of probation and 80 hours of community service.

He also agreed to submit to police searches at any time.

Now that he’s a Bill, maybe T.O. could help this kid get his life on track…

…wait, what happened? I blacked out for a second.

In his latest edition of “Monday Morning Quarterback”, Peter King writes that Trent Edwards wanted Bills’ chief operating office Russ Brandon to pursue Terrell Owens.

“How about T.O.?”

Bills chief operating office Russ Brandon woke up sometime after midnight Friday morning and noticed there was a text message on his cell phone. So he reached over and looked. It was from Trent
Edwards, the quarterback of the Bills. “How about T.O.?” That’s all it said.

Brandon shot back with this: “?”

“T.O. was released. Go get him,” Edwards texted back.

Brandon still seemed surprised when I spoke to him late Sunday. “I went back to sleep,” he said, “but I was stunned by it. The next morning, [coach] Dick Jauron and I talked, and he said, ‘I think it’s something we certainly should take a look at.’ I put a call into [owner] Ralph Wilson, and he said, ‘Absolutely look into it.”’

And that was it. The only team to seriously kick the tires on Owens got its man a day later for three major reasons:

1. The Bills think Jauron is the perfect coach — calm but commanding — to handle Mount Terrell.

2. The organization is sick of perpetually being one weapon away from catching New England (and Miami and the Jets, as it turns out), and it’s willing to take the risk of having Owens ruin the locker room so it can have a chance to win the division.

3. The Bills did the one-year deal for a fairly strategic reason, in my opinion. Owens is good when he’s trying to make a good first impression.

If Jeff Garcia, Donovan McNabb and Tony Romo read this, they no doubt laughed at how naïve Edwards is when it comes to what T.O. brings to a locker room. But at least the Bills knew Edwards was completely on board when they decided to pursue Owens.

There’s no doubt that Buffalo could use T.O.’s talent, but Edwards is in for a rude awakening. There was a Monday night game that the Bills played last season against the Browns. In that game, Edwards was petrified to pass the ball more than 5-10 yards and settled for check downs to Marshawn Lynch instead of going downfield. That’s a game where T.O. would no doubt express his frustration in a dysfunctional manner. I don’t think the signing was bad (especially since the Bills only signed him to a one-year deal), but hopefully Edwards and Co. know what they’re getting into.