Posted on Fri, Mar. 05, 2004 Eagles had deal with Owens, but 49ers reportedly undermined itBy BOB BROOKOVERPhiladelphia InquirerPHILADELPHIA - The Philadelphia Eagles negotiated a new contract with Terrell Owens on Thursday, and Friday morning the Pro Bowl wide receiver is a member of the Baltimore Ravens.Confused?The Eagles, at the urging of the San Francisco 49ers, negotiated a contract with Owens and his agent, David Joseph, in an attempt to execute a trade, according to a league source.After agreeing to terms with Owens, the Eagles called the 49ers to inform them that they were ready to make the trade. The 49ers, however, had already traded Owens to the Baltimore Ravens for a second-round pick, the 51st overall in the draft.The source said Owens and Joseph were deeply upset, believing that the 49ers made the deal with the Ravens out of spite because the sides have had a tumultuous relationship during this off-season.Owens' first choice, the source said, was to join the Eagles, who introduced defensive end Jevon Kearse on Thursday after signing him to an eight-year, $66 million deal Wednesday, the opening of the free-agent signing period.Though the Eagles never got a chance to discuss a trade, they had a higher draft pick to offer the 49ers for Owens. The Eagles' first-round pick in this year's draft is the 28th overall, 23 spots ahead of the selection the 49ers received from the Ravens.Two Eagles sources confirmed Thursday that the team was involved in discussions with the 49ers for Owens, but neither source would discuss any details.Calls to Owens' agent were not returned. Owens did not have a new contract in place with the Ravens when the trade was made, but Baltimore officials said negotiations have already begun. Owens had three years and $17.7 million remaining on his contract with the 49ers.He had intended to void those final three years and become a free agent Wednesday, but a procedural mishap enabled San Francisco to retain Owens' rights. The 49ers gave Joseph and Owens a 72-hour window to attempt to make a trade and the league source said that the wide receiver wanted to play with quarterback Donovan McNabb, who made a public plea for the Eagles to add some impact players on offense 10 days after the team lost its third straight NFC championship game.At a news conference in San Francisco on Thursday, 49ers general manager Terry Donahue said that his priority was to trade Owens to an AFC team because "whenever you're trading a player, it's always to your advantage that the player doesn't come back to compete with you all the time."Owens and the Ravens will compete against the Eagles later this year. The Eagles are scheduled to play Baltimore at Lincoln Financial Field on a date to be determined. The Ravens - and the Eagles - are not on the 49ers' schedule this season.Donahue described the market for Owens as small."Our philosophy was that we would like a No. 1 or the best offer that we could get," he said. "The reality of it was, there was not a whole lot of activity on the market. We contacted half the teams in the NFL and this was far and away the best opportunity that we had. And we were happy with it and we jumped on it as quick as we could."With Kearse already on board and a deal with Owens in place, the Eagles obviously were ready and willing to be every bit as aggressive as any team in the NFL during this free agency/trading period.But the list of quality free agents still available at wide receiver is short. With Owens and Carolina's Steve Smith off the market, the most productive receiver still on the board is Seattle's Darrell Jackson. The Eagles, however, are not overly enamored with Jackson.The Eagles also have the option of negotiating with Justin McCareins, a restricted free agent from Tennessee, but a deal with him would cost them their first-round pick, a seemingly heavy price for a guy with 60 career catches.Rumors, of course, have surfaced in recent days that the Minnesota Vikings have placed Randy Moss on the trading block, but he's going to cost a lot more than a draft pick.All the Eagles know for sure right now is that they are back at the drawing board after spending Thursday at the negotiating table.