In 2005, receiver Terrell Owens wanted more money from the Eagles.  (Arguably, he deserved it after a heroic performance in the Super Bowl.  But Owens opted to go public, and the team dug in.  The situation deteriorated, and Owens ultimately settled on a strategy of becoming a complete pain in the ass in the hopes that the Eagles would cut him or trade him.

It worked, but it came with a price.

The final tally?  $2.49 million, per the Philadelphia Inquirer.

A four-game suspension without pay, which was upheld by an arbitrator, cost Owens $764,000 and change.  The team then took the position that Owens had defaulted on his signing bonus, claiming that he owed $1.725 million of the $2.3 million that the team paid upon inking Owens in 2004.

The team collected $955,000 and change by not paying him any of the game checks for his five-game suspension with pay, which means that, in the end, it wasn’t.  The rest of the cash comes in the wake of an arbitrator’s ruling that T. owes the balance of the $1.725 million, which comes out to more than $769,000.

The Owens situation prompted the NFLPA to slip significant changes into the most recent revisions to the CBA, which now prevents teams from sending players home with pay.

As a result of the ruling, the Eagles will receive a $769,000 salary cap credit for 2008.

Before we’re flooded with e-mails asking how the Eagles can go about getting their money if Owens opts not to pay, here’s the procedure — if he tells them to cram it sideways, the team can file suit against him to enforce the arbitration award.  It’s a fairly simple procedure, and Owens won’t have any meaningful defenses, given that the Eagles followed the procedure created by the union representing Owens’ rights.  Once a judgment is entered against him, he can either write the check (with interest) or the Eagles can begin attempting to seize some of his assets and sell them off.

Regardless of whether Owens opts for the easy way or the hard way, there’s no way that the Eagles will let this go.