Posted on 09/23/2009 10:44:56 AM PDT by Brookhaven
Michael Crabtree celebrated his 22nd birthday Monday. As an unwanted gift, multiple reports surfaced that the 49ers are poised to drop their offer to the No. 10 overall pick out of Texas Tech.
Citing team sources, Michael Silver of Yahoo! Sports wrote that Crabtree's continued absence makes him less valuable to the 49ers on a prorated basis and added, "Translation: The team just reduced its offer and will continue to do so with each passing week."
A day earlier, Jay Glazer of Fox Sports reported that the 49ers sent a letter to Crabtree "modifying" their offer.
Responding to the Fox report Monday, coach Mike Singletary acknowledged that such a letter had at least been discussed. But Singletary said he was unsure whether the 49ers had actually dropped the note in the mail.
Singletary said. "I didn't want to hear about it any more after last Friday. I said, 'Hey, do what you have to do. I'm focused over here.'
"So I don't know if the letter's actually been sent. I know we talked about it. But at this point, the whole Michael Crabtree thing "... it's over there. I'm going to focus over here. We have our hands full with the 53 (players) that we have."
The 49ers' offer has been reported at five years and $20 million, with $16 million guaranteed. According to the Yahoo! report, the 49ers are willing to give Crabtree incentives that would take them to within a dollar
less of the package given to No. 9 pick B.J. Raji. (Raji got a reported five-year deal for $28.5 million with almost $18 million guaranteed.)
"We won't go over that," the team source told Yahoo! "Otherwise, we're going to have the same problem next year, and the year after that "..."
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
>>>You mean have the teams actually have to compete for players is a free market place. Imagine that.
Yes, it doesn’t get much more socialistic in sports than with the NFL. All teams share equally in television revenue, they all submit to a salary cap limiting how much they can spend, and the draft rewards poorer performing franchises.
The Niners are being prudent to not cave into the machinations of an untried player. Let this player prove his worth, then he can earn the pay he’s asking for. I’m sick of watching college players coming out of that system demanding money they have not earned.
$20,000 a year for an education is not worth what elite football players bring to big schools. the NCAA is a travesty.
Sure, but since there isn’t a uniform system, those arguments can be entertained. The other 31 GMs would probably have taken him ahead of Bey.
I just think the Niners should consider that they were fortunate to get a Top 5 talent at #10 because of Al Davis senility.
That said...Crabtree is making a huge mistake, and will never see this much money again. This is a Juan Gonzalez with the tigers, or Juliana Margolis with ER miscalculation.
There’s no need to imagine that - it’s been how leagues have operated in the past - and it instantly turns into a fiasco. You need to understand that a league needs to be a collective to survive. It doesn’t work as a free market pure system. Do you honestly think the New York Yankees putting the Kansas City Royals out of business is the same thing as Mr. Jefferson outperforming and thereby running Random White Guy Dry Cleaners into the ground is the same thing?
Revenue sharing already exists.
Disagree. The Niners were fortuante to land him at #10. They should pay him as if he were the #7 pick, which he would have been had a sane person (i.e. not Al Davis) been making the selection.
Dan Marino was drafted what..21st, and in in the hall of fame.
Alex Smtih was drafted #1, and now sits on the bench.
Matt Ryan went #3. Maybe today Miami and St. Louis wish they had drafted him, but at the time they decided they should pass on him.
9 teams passed on Crabtree for a reason. He was a #10 pick.
Honestly, it’s hard to feel sorry for a guy that is turning down millions for just a little more.
He could have taken the offer on the table, invested it in some conservative assets, and be set for life. Instead he’s risking that to get “just a little bit more”.
As a free market economist, I have no problem with him holding out for what he thinks he is worth, even if it is delusional.
$20,000 a year for an education is not worth what elite football players bring to big schools. the NCAA is a travesty.
I worked my way through college. Full time job, paid my living expenses and college costs. If anyone had offered me a sports scholarship I would have jumped at it.
Big sports like football and basketball generate revenue, but other sports are a revenue drain on a school, yet they also give out scholarships. The larger sports pay for the smaller ones.
not buying it. they should be paid in some way. or that ridiculous rule about not being able to enter the draft until 3 years removed from your last high school game should be tossed.
they are literally stopping these guys from being able to make a living. all the while the NCAA makes millions and millions.
That's actually a bad idea. I haven't seen any recent figures, but running backs used to have something like a season and a half average career in the NFL.
My impression is that the average college player ends up with neither a real education nor an NFL career while the more prestigious football schools make a ton of money off the program. What's wrong with paying them as the professionals they are in college?
There's nothing glamorous or noble about amateur athletics. If there are people willing to pay to see them play, the athletes *should* get some of the take.
This guy is going to be living in the same body for the rest of his life and it cannot be any fun getting smashed by a 300lb side of beef while you're catching a pass. He's entitled to as much money as he can get (which includes $0 if he's really screwed it up).
(Oh and go Dolphins!)
they are literally stopping these guys from being able to make a living. all the while the NCAA makes millions and millions.
bump
they should be paid in some way. or that ridiculous rule about not being able to enter the draft until 3 years removed from your last high school game should be tossed.
The 3 year rule is an NFL rule. Colleges have nothing to do with that.
I don’t disagree that there should be some type of stipend for college players for living expenses.
I think where we differ is the going pro part. The bottom line is 99% of college football players NEVER go pro, because they aren’t (and never will be) good enough to play in the pros. If they weren’t playing college footbal to pay for their college education, they’d be working somewhere (restaurant, warehouse, retail, etc...) to pay their way through college.
For the 1% of college players that go on to have a career in the NFL, that $20,000 a year scholarship isn’t a good deal. For the other 99% it is.
it doesn't matter how many go pro. it should be a free market. we don't whine about kids who are auto mechanics because they didn't go to college. why should we whine about athletes who want to go pro out of high school or 1 year out of high school?
But you repeat yourself...
WTF is going to draft and sign him next go around? He will have missed a year of organized ball and he’s proven to be a headache. The NFL has a salary slotting system. Too bad that he didn’t get picked higher but that’s life in the NFL.
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