SCOTT JACOBS

The Buffalo Bills are a small market, smart budgeted, family owned team that does things the right way (usually that is).  They are very careful about who they sign, very methodical about how they do their business, and are generally a team chalk full of blue collar players, much like the city itself.

So it was only fitting that the Bills made the most stunning free agent signing in recent memory when they inked franchise killer Terrell Owens to a one year deal worth a working man’s $6.5 million today.  Did we mention the entire contract is guaranteed?

Talk about your, ‘holy bears where did that come from’, story of the day, month, offseason.

Or should we go for the more appropriate line in this instance: Holy bleeping Bills!

The Bills just don’t do this.  They sign players who fit their system, they stay safe in who they bring into their organization.  They don’t bring in malcontents.  Go ahead, I dare you, name someone the Bills have signed since the free agency period started that mirrored anything like T.O.?

I got nothing.

But back to T.O.: Let it be known, this is his last absolute chance.  There is no more second chances left after this one, even in the NFL where second chances are handed out like Monopoly cards.

Either T.O. and the Bills are going to be a match in heaven or this thing is going down in flames.

I’m trying to make sense of this.  Buffalo started out last season like wild fire, racing out to a 4-0 start.  But then Trent Edwards got knocked out in a game against the eventual NFC Champion Arizona Cardinals (still sounds funny), and the Bills never recovered.  They got slammed in the desert, and amazingly ended up winless in their own division.  The Bills finished 7-9, and last place in the AFC East.

Apparently, their thinking is that T.O. puts them over the top?  Maybe…?

Here’s my instant analysis: I’m intrigued by the pairing of Lee Evans (a wicked fast receiver) and Owens who himself demands a double team every time he gets down the field.  Evans caught 63 receptions for 1017 yards and three touchdowns last year, but he didn’t have that sidekick to really further extend the field.  That’s where T.O. comes in.

Assuming Owens can be on his best behavior this is a heck of a ballsy/brilliant move by the Bills.  With Marshawn Lynch running the ball, and Owens and Evans spreading out the field, the usually invisible Bills offense should be at least middle of the pack next year if not potent.  Add that to a solid defense, and who knows right?

Of course Owens and his behavior is always the X-Factor.  On team number four T.O. cannot screw up.  Some small part of me says that while he’s absurdly cocky, he’s not totally stupid.  He realizes now that at 35, and on the downside of his career he’s playing for not only pride, but a Super Bowl title that has forever eluded him.

And whether it’s fair or not, maybe just maybe, T.O. actually (cough cough) helps teams win?  Afterall, every team he’s ever been on (49ers, Eagles, Cowboys) has made the playoffs.  So maybe Buffalo sees Owens as that final piece to get their team into the playoffs so they can end a playoff drought that dates back to 1999 (only for him to then tear the locker-room apart and make life for Bills coach Dick Jauron a living hell).  Yes, the Bills are 0-the century. They are clearly desperate.  Owens is very desperate.  Either they’re going to be a match in heaven or this thing is going down in flames.

We haven’t even touched on Trent Edwards, who will enter his second year as a starter in 2009.  Edwards, is just a third year quarterback out of Stanford and a very easy going and hard working guy.  But he’s never played with T.O. or anyone like him.  Edwards has had the chance to get comfortable in a Buffalo offense that still hasn’t quite found its identity. He’s never had a big ego that demands the ball. He gets the pigskin out to whoever is open.

That all changes now.

With Owens in the fold, Edwards will have pressure on him like never before to keep his star receiver happy (and we’re not talking about Evans here)!  Will T.O. be gentle on the young QB?  Or will he be just as brutal on him as he has been to guys like Jeff Garcia, Donovan McNabb, and Tony Romo?  Those are the questions.

This isn’t rocket science.  Buffalo is taking a one year risk on a player who could be a huge find or a major nightmare.  Owens could turn the Bills into a Wild Card contender overnight or he could set Edward’s self esteem back five years.  But hey, what’s the worst that could happen right?

It’s only T.O.

Photo:  Reuters Pictures