Buffalo hopes Terrell Owens can live up to his billing as an elite wide receiver. (James P. McCoy/Buffalo News/Associated Press)

The Buffalo Bills showed Saturday they were willing to roll the dice for a big-time wide receiver, signing the controversial Terrell Owens to a one-year, $6.5-million contract.

The deal came just two days after the Dallas Cowboys cut Owens, 35, on the heels of a tumultuous season in which he reportedly feuded with quarterback Tony Romo.

"I'm leaving America's team [for] North America's team," Owens said at a news conference.

Toronto fans will get a live look at the six-time All-Pro when the Bills play the second of five regular-season games at Rogers Centre in 2009. The exact date isn't known because the league schedule hasn't been drafted yet.

Owens fits a need for the Bills, who have been looking for years for a big-bodied, elite receiver to complement top pass-catcher Lee Evans.

The six-foot-three, 218-pound Owens matches that description. He has surpassed 1,000 receiving yards in nine of his 13 NFL seasons and reached double digits in touchdown catches eight times.

"We got one of the premier playmakers in a playmakers' league," Bills chief operating officer Russ Brandon said after helping the team make its biggest splash in the player acquisition market since getting quarterback Drew Bledsoe in a trade with New England in 2002.

Playing in all 16 games for Dallas last year, the flamboyant wideout caught 69 passes for 1,052 yards and 10 TDs. He would have led the Bills in all three categories despite posting his lowest numbers since 2005, when he played in just seven games for Philadelphia.

"'Wow!' was my first reaction," Evans said. "I know we were looking at some different receivers out there. When he was cut by the Cowboys, I didn't know if we were going to make the move for him or not. We did and it worked out. I'm very excited for everybody."

Owens, who began his career with San Francisco, will now try to help the Bills end a nine-year playoff drought. Buffalo started 5-1 last year before losing eight of its last 10 to again miss the post-season.

"I must move on and it's another beginning for me," Owens said. "If I can be that extra added piece to get them to the playoffs, then that's what I'm here for. I looked at the defensive side of the ball and offensive side of the ball, and these guys have all the pieces."

Off-field headaches

The flip side to Owens's enormous talents, of course, is that he comes with more baggage than a 747.

The reason he appeared in just seven games in 2005 was that the Eagles deactivated him for the end of the season for criticizing management over his contract status and ripping quarterback Donovan McNabb for allegedly tiring late in the team's Super Bowl loss to the New England Patriots the season before.

Owens also had an acrimonious departure from San Francisco, where he ripped quarterback Jeff Garcia and once insinuated the 49ers passer was gay.

Those incidents didn't stop Cowboys owner Jerry Jones from giving Owens a three-year, $25-million deal in March 2006, and the receiver meshed well with Romo. But last season, after inking a new four-year, $34-million deal, Owens griped that he wasn't being thrown to enough as Dallas collapsed late in the season and missed the playoffs.

By that time the Cowboys had had enough of the off-field headaches — including a bizarre 2006 incident in which Owens reportedly overdosed on painkillers and some media outlets reported that he had tried to commit suicide. The player's publicist denied the reports, insisting Owens had merely had an allergic reaction to the pills.

Dallas took a roughly $9-million salary-cap hit when it released Owens.

"That's all hearsay," Owens said of his perceived selfishness. "If you look at all the comments coming from my teammates with the Cowboys the last three years, it's all been positive. Prior to that, I really don't want to get into it."

In Buffalo, Owens will work with young quarterback Trent Edwards, who is entering his second full year as a starter.

Last season, the likable Stanford product failed to register a 300-yard passing day as he guided an offence that ranked 25th in the NFL in yards gained.

Time will tell how he and Owens get along.

"I'm looking forward to getting together with Trent, Lee and the guys and putting some points on the board," Owens said. "That's what I've done everywhere I've been and it's going to continue."