Most of the nation’s sports media do not feel your pain, Bills Nation.

Bills fans everywhere, tortured by the team’s playoff futility this decade, have been mostly thrilled by the signing of receiver Terrell Owens, based on the reaction from e-mailers, bloggers, letter-writers and talk-show callers. Pundits and columnists from across the country, however, are viewing the move with skepticism — or worse.

“I believe in chemistry and believe in a team working together, so had I been in Buffalo, I would not have made this move,” wrote former NFL executive Mike Lombardi of the National Football Post.

“The good people of Erie County have endured more than 100 inches of snowfall this season,” wrote Bob Ford of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “It was mostly lake-effect snow, but just as hard to remove from the driveway. A lot easier to shovel through, however, than the decision by the Buffalo Bills to hire Owens for the 2009 season.”

“What the Bills did is more like doubling down on 19 in blackjack when the dealer’s showing 20,” wrote Mike Celizic of NBCSports.com. “Unless you’re the luckiest cuss alive, you’re losing that bet, and everybody knows it. This is a recipe for disaster.”

“Owens joined a team that makes less sense for him than he does for it, and we’re left with one inescapable conclusion: There just wasn’t a market for the guy,” wrote Clark Judge of CBSsportsline.com. “Owens is going from the glare of the media to the glare of the next snowdrift. Doesn’t make a lot of sense, does it?”

Judge was far from the only commentator who can’t fathom the idea of the publicity-loving Owens in small-market Buffalo.

“T. O. is a bad fit for the Bills,” said Philadelphia’s Ford. “Buffalo is a working man’s city, with very good fans who appreciate good football, but who do not appreciate showboats. It’s not the big, national stage Owens likes for his antics, such as the one he had in Dallas, San Francisco and even in Philadelphia. The Buffalo fans may boo him off the stage.”

Many pundits reason that Owens ultimately will have a negative effect on Bills quarterback Trent Edwards.

“Good luck, Trent Edwards. You’re in for the lesson of a lifetime,” wrote Ann Killion of the San Jose Mercury News. “He will see if he can survive where far more experienced quarterbacks have failed. Men like Jeff Garcia, Donovan McNabb and Tony Romo learned that there is a point where talent doesn’t outweigh the migraine. And Owens always manages to find it.”

“Edwards is going to find out early that he’ll need to throw the ball to Owens more than [Lee] Evans,” said Peter King of CNN/SI.com. “Can Edwards cope with Owens’ demands? Jeff Garcia, Donovan McNabb and Tony Romo could—for a while—but eventually it overwhelmed the quarterback, the play-callers and the locker rooms.”

The potential for a divided locker room is a widespread concern, too.

“Where this signing has a potential for disaster is in the locker room,” said Lombardi, former overseer of the Raiders and Browns personnel departments. “The lack of any core leadership on the Bills gives T. O. an open forum to do his thing and create the dissension he’s famous for. The Bills have no one in the room who can control this situation if (and when) it gets out of hand.”

“[Dick] Jauron’s quiet, unassuming manner appears to make him vulnerable to someone as combustible as Owens,” wrote Vic Carucci of NFL.com. “Ditto for Edwards, who is only heading for his second full season as a starter and does not have what could be characterized as an exceptionally strong personality.”

The reaction wasn’t all bad, however.

Several columnists suggest the fact the Bills signed Owens to a one-year deal limits the risk.

“Only so much damage can occur in a year, and Owens usually behaves in the first year of his contract,” wrote Greg Rosenthal of NBCSports.com. “Owens will be under pressure to behave and perform or he won’t get another contract in 2010. A little dose of career mortality could keep his mouth shut.”

“One year is smart,” wrote SI’s King. “More than that, history tells us, is stupid.”

And a handful of pundits are fully supportive of the idea.

“They don’t need him to be the savior he was portrayed to be when he joined Philadelphia, and they don’t need him to be the main attraction [Jerry] Jones hoped he’d become in Dallas,” wrote Jeffri Chadiha of ESPN.com. “All the Bills need from Owens is a reliable player who can energize an inconsistent offense. Judging from all the factors currently in their favor, that’s exactly what they’ll get.”

“Somewhere between the dictatorship of [Bill] Parcells and the easy approach of Wade Phillips rests a coaching style that would be good in terms of handling Owens, which Jauron might be,” said Pete Prisco of CBSSportsline.com. “Buffalo made the smart move, and when it pays off all of you who spent the past two days hoping T. O. was a no-go for good, you’ll remember that I told you so.”