Terrell Owens needs more surgery on his injured right ring finger and might not be 100 percent until training camp. Dallas Cowboys coach Wade Phillips confirmed that the wide receiver needs a second procedure on the finger that required surgery last month after getting injured during the 2006 season. Phillips did not give a date, but The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported the surgery would be March 1. "I'll have to talk to our doctors and his doctors about how long he's going to be out," Phillips said. "Drew Rosenhaus (Owen's agent), who I talked to already, said he was going to be back sooner than what he says."

Free agency might not start until March 2, but the Cowboys got a head start Tuesday morning by re-signing center Andre Gurode to a six-year deal. Terms were not readily available, but suffice to say the Cowboys had to give last season's starting center enough financial incentive to prevent him from testing free agency, especially since he was considered one of the top two centers heading into the market. Gurode started all 17 games last season and was a late addition to his first Pro Bowl. He was one of two offensive line priorities the Cowboys had heading into the off-season, the other being right tackle Marc Colombo, who also was a 17-game starter. Colombo, after battling serious knee injuries for several years, surprisingly performed well while starting more than five games in a season for the first time in his career. The Cowboys likely will turn their attention toward the five-year veteran.

While Jerry Jones expects Terrell Owens to still be with the Dallas Cowboys next season, the team owner stopped short of guaranteeing that. Jones said he was enthusiastic about Owens' phone call to Wade Phillips, the new coach who made a point last week during his introductory news conference to refer to the receiver by name. "I am, of course I am," Jones said. "We've got some decisions to make, but still, I'm enthusiastic about it." Owens is due a roster bonus in June. Cutting him before then would save a lot of money.

One industry source believes the decision has already been made to let Michael Irvin go at ESPN. Some at the network view the outspoken Irvin as a ticking time bomb, ready to explode into a public-relations nightmare. ESPN did not confirm or deny the report, but issued a statement, saying: "We are currently in the process of discussing studio assignments for next season." There is speculation that newly retired Bill Parcells could end up at the network, but there is no indication that a deal is imminent.

Ray Sherman and John Garrett were hired Wednesday as assistants to new Dallas Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips. Sherman, who had been with eight other NFL teams dating to 1988, will be the receivers coach. Garrett, the brother of offensive assistant Jason Garrett, will coach tight ends.

Wesley Phillips, the son of new Cowboys coach Wade Phillips, and former linebacker Dat Nguyen have been added to Dallas' coaching staff. Wesley Phillips was named an offensive assistant coach, the team said in a posting on its Web site Tuesday night. The 27-year-old was quarterbacks coach at Baylor last season. Nguyen, a former Dallas standout who retired last year because of a neck injury, was named an assistant linebackers coach.

Twice during his introduction of Wade Phillips as Cowboys coach, Jerry Jones had to stop and gather himself. The decision was that emotional for the team owner. "We needed to get it right," Jones said, pausing as tears welled up in his eyes. "In my mind, we got it right." Phillips was hired Thursday, providing Dallas with an experienced replacement for Bill Parcells and someone well-versed in the 3-4 defense. Maybe more significantly for Jones was getting a coach who can win now. The Cowboys haven't won a postseason game in 10 seasons, the longest drought in the history of a team with five Super Bowls.

ESPN's Chris Mortensen is reporting that Wade Phillips will be hired as the new Dallas Cowboy's head coach, replacing Bill Parcells. An official announcment may come as early as Thursday.

Since the Colts won the Super Bowl, assistant head coach Jim Caldwell has gone from rainy Miami to frigid Indianapolis for a victory celebration and now to sunny Dallas to interview for the Cowboys' head coaching vacancy. Caldwell on Wednesday became the 10th and likely last candidate to interview with Dallas owner and GM Jerry Jones in the search to replace Bill Parcells.

League sources familiar with the process insist that the San Diego Chargers defensive coordinator Wade Phillips remains on owner Jerry Jones' radar screen and retains a chance to land the job. Phillips spent much of Tuesday contacting coaches he wants to hire as assistants if he gets the Dallas job, those sources said. "It would be an overstatement to say he's putting together a staff," one source said. "But he was just touching base with his guys, updating them as to where he thinks things stand, and trying to hold [potential staffers] together. He is still in the hunt."