When Terrell Owens signed a contract with the Bengals that was heavy on incentives, there was some talk that Owens might become a malcontent if the Bengals don’t throw to him enough to meet those incentives.
But Owens says no one should be concerned about that. In fact, Owens says he’s already willing to concede that one of the incentives — a $333,333 bonus for catching 100 passes — is unrealistic for him to accomplish.
“I know that’s an unreachable goal,” Owens told Bengals.com. “It is what it is. Malcontent? Check my statistics. I’ve had 100 catches one time in my career. One. So go figure.”
In fact, Owens even suggested that the 100-catch incentive was nothing more than window dressing designed to get the media to refer to his “$2 million in incentives” and make his contract look more lucrative than it really is.
“I guess they wanted to throw that in there to make it look good,” Owens said. “I’ve only had 100 catches one time in my career.”
But Owens says that he’s not motivated by money this year.
“I definitely took a pay cut to grasp the opportunity to win a Super Bowl,” Owens said. “Like I said I know I’m worth more than what I’m being paid. But I’m here playing with my good friend Chad [Ochocinco] and playing with a team that definitely has an opportunity to win the Super Bowl.”