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Crabtree signs with the 49ers ending lengthy holdout
By Morris Phillips October 7, 2009 |
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Confounding and contentious has become harmonious as 49ers first-round pick Michael Crabtree agreed to terms on a six-year deal on Wednesday. After missing all of training camp and four regular season games, Crabtree is expected to make his 49ers debut after the bye week when San Francisco visits the Houston Texans. “Hopefully after the bye, Mike will be ready to go,” said coach Mike Singletary. “Certainly it's going to start small, a small role here and there, figuring out ways to get him on the field." “I’m not a numbers guy. I’m a football player,” Crabtree said. “Anything I can do to win: block, even doing “go” routes for no reason, I’ll do it.” Crabtree becomes the last of 256 players selected in the April draft to sign a contract, ending one of the longest, and most public holdouts in league history. The 49ers originally offered Crabtree a five-year, $20 million dollar deal, including $16 million guaranteed, but his agent, Eugene Parker, insisted that he receive a deal similar to Raiders’ draft pick Darrius Heyward-Bey, who was drafted three slots earlier, and received better than $23 million guaranteed. When the 49ers refused to budge, the impasse dragged. Before recent face-to-face meetings between the two camps, the team and Crabtree’s representatives hadn’t spoken since the beginning of the regular season. In the end, Crabtree accepted a deal without the guaranteed money he sought. Instead, if he achieves incentives written into the deal, he could realize the dollars he sought. Also, if he is selected to the Pro Bowl once in the first four years of the deal, along with participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a year the teams makes the playoffs, he could void the final year of the deal, with the intention of reaping greater riches sooner, in a succeeding contract. The deal was hashed out in a Palo Alto hotel room—neutral ground for both parties—in a meeting that ended a period of over a month where no negotiations took place. With the deadline of November 17 approaching, the last day Crabtree could sign and still play this season, the parties reached a solution at 4am this morning after hours of talking. Singletary said he found out a deal had been reached when he woke up on Wednesday morning. With both sides maintaining civility throughout and during the announcement of the deal on Wednesday, the mystery of why the deal took so long to be consummated continues. Tampering issues, likely involving the New York Jets, who the 49ers maintain illegally contacted Crabtree’s representatives, are still to be resolved pending an investigation by the league office. Maybe, and only then, will it be clear why it was so difficult to hash out a deal. As the impasse dragged, it was thought Crabtree didn’t want to wear a 49ers uniform because of the run-oriented direction the team has taken under Mike Singletary. Possibly, Crabtree thought he didn’t feel he could accumulate the statistics that would allow him to make the Pro Bowl or garner bigger dollars in a second contract. But Crabtree moved to the Bay Area during training camp, probably with the hope that he could participate immediately if a deal was struck. Eventually, Crabtree returned to his home in Texas before the beginning of the regular season. Now the 49ers hope they can get Crabtree up to speed quickly to bolster their receiving corps. Free agent Brandon Jones recently returned from injury, joining Arnaz Battle, Isaac Bruce and Josh Morgan as the team’s primary pass threats. Still, only Morgan has caught a touchdown in the first four games, and the 49ers pass offense ranks 28th in the league. Without a training camp, along with the quality of the players ahead of him, it is doubtful Crabtree would start at any point. But as he gains confidence and comfort with the offensive scheme, Singletary hopes he would be a big contributor in the final month of the season and possibly the playoffs. “When Shaun Hill says ‘we need that guy on the field, he makes us better,’ that’s when we put him out there. That’s how it will progress,” Singletary said. When Shaun Hill says we need that guy on the field, he makes us better. That’s when we put him out there. That’s how it will progress.” |
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