The Dallas Cowboys have released controversial wide receiver Terrell Owens, sources told ESPN's Michael Smith late Wednesday.

Cowboys receiver Sam Hurd said Owens sent him a text message late Wednesday, saying he had been cut by the team.

"He didn't give me an explanation. He just said, 'Wow,'" Hurd said Thursday. "I really didn't believe that he seen that coming."

Hurd said Owens' reaction was "more shock than anger."

"He said it's tough, but it's a business," Hurd said.

In late February, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones did not deny the team was discussing the possible release of Owens. Owens' future was brought up again in meetings at Valley Ranch on Wednesday, but Jones had not made a final decision by the time most people had left the building, a source told ESPN.com's Matt Mosley.

Jones and his son Stephen told Owens and his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, in person Wednesday in Florida to inform him of his release, sources told ESPN's Ed Werder.

"There are several decisions on our roster we have to look at," Jones said in February. "This is the time of year we do that. I'm not trying to be trite, but as you all know we're evaluating players in college, we're evaluating free agents and we're evaluating our own roster. This is an ongoing thing, not any different than this time last year."

The team did not immediately have comment. A spokesman for Owens said he hadn't heard the news, and that the receiver was traveling and could not immediately be reached, The Associated Press reported.

The Cowboys paid Owens a $12 million signing bonus just last year, which was included as part of a new four-year, $34 million deal. Dallas will take a roughly $9 million salary-cap hit with the release of Owens.

There has been talk since the end of the Cowboys' 9-7 season, in which they missed the playoffs, that they would consider cutting Owens to improve locker-room morale.