FORT WORTH, Texas — No more Jerry double-talk. No more non-denial denials. No more whispers, rumor and innuendo. Terrell Owens' reign of terror with the Dallas Cowboys is over.

That "whooshing" noise emanating from north Dallas wasn't the Goodyear blimp developing a leak. It was a sigh of relief from Valley Ranch.

A source confirmed an ESPN report late Wednesday night that the Cowboys have released the controversial wide receiver after his third year with the team, a season marred by locker room discord and a disappointing 9-7 playoff-less finish.

Owens sows controversy like a Kansas farmer sews wheat. He can't help it. He has made three stops in the NFL — with San Francisco, Philadelphia and Dallas — and departed each one in a cloud of unhappiness and internal back-biting.

T.O.'s release by the Cowboys has been rumored since their season-ending loss at Philadelphia, but owner Jerry Jones had consistently refused to tip his hand, hinting at one thing, then reversing field on the media with the skill and deceptiveness of one of his own running backs.

Jones, in fact, had intimated strongly just two weeks ago that Owens would almost certainly be back for a fourth season with the Cowboys in 2009.

That should have been a tip-off for anyone who knows Jerry to expect the unexpected.

"You and I both know, the one you're asking about all the time, if I gave you the answer that you want to hear, you would have already had it," Jones told reporters during a news conference at the new Cowboys stadium in Arlington announcing a George Strait concert when he was bombarded with questions about Owens' future. "The fact that you don't have it should tell you something. It really should."

Jones also discounted continual reports of locker room discord, contending that many of the off-the-field problems that seemed to revolve around Owens were a product of an overactive media imagination.

Jerry knew better. He had to know better. He talks to quarterback Tony Romo, to tight end Jason Witten, to many key players in that locker room. He talks to his offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, who clearly had had his fill with Owens and his constant whining. Jerry probably even talks to coach Wade Phillips, though whether he actually listens to him is open for debate.

There were even rumors that eldest son Stephen, the Cowboys' vice president, had told his father that Owens needed to go, though both have denied any differences of opinion on that or any subject.

That Jerry actually listened to all of these people and finally heeded their advice should come as no real surprise. As much as he's his own man, the one thing Jones loves more than almost anything is the Dallas Cowboys. Once convinced that Owens' continued presence constituted a real and imminent threat to their success, what happened late Wednesday night was inevitable.

This is where Owens sealed his eventual fate with the Cowboys. As long as he was a productive receiver with the occasional overdose of pain pills scare, or minor sideline tantrum, Jerry could and would put up with him. Jones would, in fact, hold onto him as long as possible just to prove his critics, including former coach Bill Parcells who never wanted Owens in Dallas, wrong.

But once Owens began cutting up Garrett, complaining about Romo, almost coming to blows with Witten at Valley Ranch, once he became more serious distraction than attraction, his days here were numbered.

On Wednesday night, that number reached zero. It was a move that was long overdue.

That it would come to this seemed inevitable from the beginning. Owens' track record was there for all to see.

The first real sign that Jones' patience with Owens might be nearing an end came in mid-October when he traded three draft picks, including the team's first-rounder in 2009, to the Detroit Lions for highly thought of wide receiver Roy Williams. With Williams, the Cowboys now had another No. 1 receiver in line to replace Owens.

Williams' struggles in the Cowboys' offense, however, was one of the factors that came into play when discussion turned to whether Jones might release Owens.

Things deteriorated throughout the second half of the season, however, culminating with Owens convincing Williams and fellow wide receiver Patrick Crayton to join him in complaining to Garrett about the play-calling and even accusing Romo and Witten of making up their own plays to exclude the other receivers on the team.

Now that Owens has been given his release, expect the accusations to gain new steam. It is inevitable that as Owens unleashes his pent up venom, Romo, Witten and Garrett will find themselves targeted once again.

The flip side is that they are no longer bound by the players' code to always protect a teammate, the one that Owens constantly broke. They are now free to fire back. That said, I expect they'll continue to take the high road and ignore T.O. From this point on, he's nothing more than a minor annoyance.

The Cowboys just lost 69 receptions, 1,052 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns.

And they're a far better football team today than they were just 24 hours ago.