Warner will stay with Cardinals

Terrell Owens’ days in Dallas are done, according to ESPN.

ESPN cited sources Wednesday night in saying that the Cowboys have decided to cut the receiver, ridding them of a big locker-room distraction but also absorbing a big hit on their salary cap.

The team did not immediately have a comment. A spokesman for Owens said he hadn’t heard the news, and that Owens was traveling and could not immediately be reached.

Owner Jerry Jones seemed to enjoy the publicity Owens stirred up as much as the touchdowns he scored. However, there were several in-house issues involving Owens that may have ultimately prompted Jones to decide the receiver wasn’t worth the trouble.

Quarterback Kurt Warner agreed to terms on a two-year, $23-million contract with the Arizona Cardinals.

The 37-year-old’s deal includes a $15-million signing bonus. Combined with a $4-million salary for the first year of the contract, $19 million is guaranteed.

Linebacker Ray Lewis agreed to a three-year deal worth nearly $22 million to stay with the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens also reached an agreement on a three-year deal with Matt Birk, a six-time Pro Bowl center with the Minnesota Vikings.

The Cincinnati Bengals agreed to a four-year deal with former New York Jets receiver Laveranues Coles. ESPN reported that the deal was worth $28 million. . . . The Detroit Lions signed defensive tackle Grady Jackson to a three-year contract and cornerback Philip Buchanon to a two-year deal. . . . The Denver Broncos finalized deals with running backs LaMont Jordan and J.J. Arrington.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Mountain West has playoff idea

The Mountain West Conference presented the bowl championship series with a proposal to create an eight-team playoff system that would allow greater access to the national-championship game to teams outside the six most powerful leagues.

“Some of these ideas or similar ones have been addressed before in BCS meetings,” BCS coordinator and Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner John Swofford said.

The next BCS meeting is scheduled for April in Pasadena.

SOCCER

U.S. wins, 2-0, at Algarve Cup

Tina DiMartino scored her first international goal to help the defending champion United States beat Denmark, 2-0, in its first match at the Algarve Cup in Lagos, Portugal.

Angie Woznuk scored the first goal for the Americans in the 22nd minute.

Edwin van der Sar lost his record-breaking run of not giving up a goal. but Manchester United won, 2-1, at Newcastle to move seven points clear at the top of the English Premier League with a game in hand.

After stretching his record to 1,311 minutes without giving up a goal since Nov. 8, Van der Sar failed to hold a shot from Jonas Gutierrez, giving Peter Lovenkrands an easy goal in the ninth minute.

ETC.

Boaters’ families continue search

Family and friends refused to give up the search for two NFL players and a third man missing four days in the Gulf of Mexico, enlisting private boats and planes to comb the waters off the Florida coast.

The Coast Guard called off the official search Tuesday for Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper, free-agent NFL defensive lineman Corey Smith, who played for the Detroit Lions last season, and former South Florida player William Bleakley.

Authorities located Cooper’s 21-foot boat, which had drifted 50 miles west of Sarasota, said Jim Manson, an investigator with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.