Day 6, practice 10: Michael who?
The 49ers this afternoon issued a statement about the Michael Crabtree situation. The contract impasse is in Day 10. Crabtree will miss his 10th practice later today.
"The 49ers are not going to negotiate in the media," a club spokesman said. "In our view, there have been positive and open communications between both sides."
Just one more day, and then Crabtree takes his place on this ignominious list (and please let me know if you see this cited elsewhere without proper attribution):
Longest 49ers rookie contract stalemates
1975 DT Jimmy Webb (Rd. 1, No. 10): 43 days.
1969 TE Ted Kwalick (Rd. 1, No. 7): 25 days.
1986 DL Larry Roberts (Rd. 2, No. 39): 16 days.
1997 QB Jim Druckenmiller (Rd 1, No. 26): 15 days
1989 LB Keith DeLong (Rd 1, No. 28): 13 days.
2000 LB Julian Peterson (Rd 1, No. 16): 12 days
1995 WR J.J. Stokes (Rd 1, No. 10): 11 days
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Injury update: Fullback Moran Norris (hamstring) participated in some individual work, as did linebacker Parys Haralson (hip). Receiver Josh Morgan sustained a neck strain in the morning practice, but he returned to full participation.
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Here are the deets from this morning's practice:
--Quarterback Alex Smith, coming off a strong showing on the practice field Wednesday, opened 11 on 11 with . . . with . . . uh, with an interception. He tried to fit the ball into Josh Morgan on a crossing route, and linebacker Takeo Spikes was in the perfect position to make the pick. Smith's only other incomplete pass was on the same route to Morgan.
--Smith completed 5 of 7 passing attempts, while Shaun Hill completed 6 of 7. His only incomplete pass came on a hot read when he tried to dump it off to J.J. Finley, but the first-year tight end did not turn around in time.
--Hill showed his ability to improvise on one play. He threw a short pass to Josh Morgan as if he were a submarine pitcher, getting it underneath the wingspan of an on-rushing blitzer off the edge.
--Afterward, when asked about their AWOL rookie, neither Smith nor Hill seemed too concerned. Apparently, there is not a whole lot of talk in the locker room about the No. 10 overall pick in the draft.
--The 49ers' backs are working hard. Frank Gore has not taken off a practice. Glen Coffee and Kory Sheets are both seeing a lot of action and taking a pounding. Coffee was drilled by Dashon Goldson on an inadvertent hit.
--Several minutes after Vernon Davis got reprimanded for squaring off against Marques Harris, there was another brief skirmish when Cody Wallace and Aubrayo Franklin rolled around a little. Neither received an on-field lecture, though.
--Nate Davis finished up the 11-on-11 session as the "young guys" took the field. Sheets got four running plays.
--Here's my take on Nate Davis' future with the 49ers: The team should place him on the 53-man roster, keeping Hill, Smith and Damon Huard ahead of him. The 49ers will keep four quarterbacks anyway (active roster and practice squad). The last few spots on the 53-man roster are taken by players who do not suit up for games anyway. Last year, the Buccaneers had a similar situation with fifth-round pick Josh Johnson. They went ahead and kept Jeff Garcia, Luke McCown and Brian Griese on the roster, along with Johnson.
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This question has been asked a lot, so I'm going to address it here. If the 49ers were unable to reach a contract agreement with Crabtree and he went back in the draft, the 49ers would be out of luck. The NFL does not give out mulligans for draft picks. If that were the case, just think, there might be a lot of teams every year failing to sign their picks on purpose to load up for a strong draft.
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The problem is that putting Nate Davis on the 53 man roster would probably mean we'd lose another of our promising young receivers (Zeigler or Hill).
Loving the fact that Sheets is getting a lot of ball touches. I've been talking about this guy for months... when we got him after he wasn't drafted I was beside myself. He's going to tear it up after Gore and Coffee pound em!!!
Matt... I say no mas about Crabs till he signs or decides to sit out the season. Guy hasn't ran a route and I'm already tired of hearing his name.
Thanks!!!
I agree with you on what the Niners should do with Nate Davis. In my opinion, the only way he makes the roster is if they keep 4 QB's. They already know what Damon Huard brings to the table as a veteran backup (with good starting experience), and he will be valuable if needed, as the third QB. We would be in a world of trouble if we were forced to put in the project Nate Davis at some point this season, as a third option. Either Davis is the 4th QB on the roster or he will be on the PS (and IMO, I doubt anyone will come knocking).
@BennyBlanco
Word! I was excited about Crabtree, Nate Davis and Kory Sheets during the draft run up. The Niners got all three and I started to think I'm spending too much time thinking about football...
Mr. Crabs is fast becoming irrelevant. I hate to admit it but maybe Al knew all along and was more astute than I gave him credit for. Matt, why not cut Huard? Would he really be picked up by another team or just sitting by the phone waiting for an injury replacement call?
Recent longest rookie holdout in the league was 98 days by Bryant McKinnie. He signed only on Nov 1, 2002 & ended up missing the first 8 games of the regular season.
Every subsequent rookie holdout missed only preseason games, at the worst.
ONENINER...Smith's FIRST pass INTERCEPTED!! OUCH! MS must of allowed a full blown pass rush!
Matt - Why would the Niners keep Huard on the roster as the third QB? I know he is a veteran but if the Niners lose Smith & Hill they are going nowhere anyway. Davis should be the third QB since on most teams isn't the third guy a young player looking towards the future? If they had too I am sure they could waive Huard before the season and he would still be available for them to pick up if injuries happen. Why leave the rest of the squad short one player because you want to keep 3 veteran QB's on the roster?
Matt, don't you think the Niners would trade the rights to Crabtree before it got to the point where he would try to enter next year's draft?
Question: Why would the Niners keep Huard on the roster as the third QB? I know he is a veteran but if the Niners lose Smith & Hill they are going nowhere anyway.
My response: If there were a huge dropoff between the top 3 QBs, I'd agree with you. But there's not. But I think the team would have a difficult time functioning with Nate Davis at QB this season. The 49ers can have some change at QB during the course of the season and still not give up hope of having a decent season. --Matt M.
Matt, just curious, but when they run the 1st and 2nd team offenses, do the 1st and 2nd teams run the same series of plays during practice? Or does they both run different sets of plays?
Razor - Al based his pick on the WR's based solely on 40 TIMES. Bank on it. The man is obsessed with it. He took the FASTEST receiver in the Draft period. Probably still looking for his big play, deep threat Cliff Branch replacement from the 70's. He's got the same MO when it comes to drafting DB's. (Big kudos for the Asomugha pick.)
Matt - do you see Raye or QB Coach Johnson working with the QB's to look off the safeties on pass plays?
Smith has been known to lock onto his receiver & I've never heard Hill doing it either. I believe Hill does a better job going through his progressions up to this point & just does it without really trying to look off the safety. I could be wrong there & he's been doing it all along. It's a fundamental skill a QB should learn/do & we know Singletary is rightfully big on fundamentals.
Question: when they run the 1st and 2nd team offenses, do the 1st and 2nd teams run the same series of plays during practice? Or does they both run different sets of plays?
My response: No, they do not run the same plays. --Matt M.
Matt,
Heard it was pretty crazy this morning!!! Quick question... What kind of plays are they using Kory Sheets in?!? I doubt there sending him straight up the middle.
Thanks =)
Matt,
If Crabtree doesn't sign this year, he just can't go back into next year's draft can he? The Niners do have rights to him, correct?
Matt,
Profootballtalk make a clarification regarding the Crabtree. If things really go south with him and the 9ers and he decides he does want to go to the 2010 draft, he is still the property of the 49ers until draft day. That means, Crabtree and Parker are not allowed to talk to any teams in the meantime nor can he participate in the combine. Apparently this is a league rule regarding rights to a draft pick. With that said, Crabtree is making a horrible decision should he go this route.
Matt,
Can the niners, after a long period of time, pressure Crabtree by reducing their offer if not signed by a certain time. There will get to be a point where he isn't going to be a benefit to the team for this coming season.
The Niner's rights to sign Crabtree expire sometime before next year's draft.
Crabtree and his agent(the Postons part2)seem to be complete idiots. They want #3 money when the guy was drafted at 10. Ok, Atlanta and the Ravens right now are desparate for WRs. Both have had injuries and need to sign someone quick. Trade primadonna Crabtree's rights to one of them for a 2010 #1 and #3 and clean up in next year's draft with 3 #1's. Either that or be prepared to deal with this mess and/or take the chance of losing this clown to a re-entry of the draft. Move quickly and aggressively with this clown....that's what I say.
Wow, as if things couldn't get any spicier, T.Jackson and the Chiefs agree to terms. I hope this is good news for the Niners.
Maybe he just wants a trade. he has to see the depth at WR the Niners have and that he's fallen behind in practice even during OTAs.
Question: What would Crabtree's rights be worth in terms of 2010 draft picks? Would there be a team that would trade for him and sign him?
"ignominious"
Why so Mr Maiocco? why so?
Nothing wrong with asking for more money. they will sign in the next couple of days. The agent knows what he is doing, and knowing the negative publicity, he will come to Prag with his hat in hand. In time, we will see Crabtree prove that Al Davis should retire.
Hope ure right man... if Crab signs soon and does well this will all be forgotten. But the longer it goes on the more damage it's going to do.
Save for J. Peterson, and maybe T. Kwalick, the other hold-outs on the list proved to be irrelevant. Crabtree was a great college player but so was J.J. Stokes and Stokes never seemed to establish himself in the NFL once he signed. Before Crabtree could be mentioned in the same breath with J. Rice, J. Taylor, G. Washington and yes, T.O., he needs to put together a few seasons of outstanding play. The quicker he gets started the quicker he has a chance to prove his relevance and justify the superstar money.
GO 2009 NINERS!
Matt,
Speaking of Michael who... one guy I haven't heard anything about is Michael Lewis. Is he even at training camp? I say this in jest because it sounds like he's not doing anything worth mentioning.
hearing about Crab-Diva's potential intentions via his cousin is a sign of weakness not strength. It's a clumsy effort to try and pressure the 49ers management. A real serious attempt at that would have Parker the agent speaking to the media directly. Leaking via his cousin is amateurish to say the least plus by bringing attention to their case they're simply inviting ridicule because their logic for holding out is not that sound.
Hi Matt, If the organization believes that Nate Davis has the potential to be an NFL QB by all means keep him. At any given time there are many backups available. This shows that the organization is thinking ahead. During the Nolan error there was never a QB groomed other than Alex.
I don't hear Clayton's name at all, is he done Matt?
Crabtree's barking up the wrong one on this gambit: Who's to say he'll get $23MM plus, guaranteed, if he sits out a year? Why would a team draft a non-playing guy that high? They wouldn't. No, it's pretty clear if Crabtree sits he'll go lower next year than 10 -- and won't be getting as much then as he could now. I'd like the kid, but if he's this stupid, I think we're pretty set right now -- especially once these guys realize how good Morgan and Ziegler are.
Can you imagine what a disaster it would be for Crabtree and Parker if he held out until next year's draft? All the time his agent saying he deserves top 3 money? Do you think any team will draft him with a high draft pick? The only team crazy enough to do something that stupid already passed on him.
I predict he will sign within the next few days for in the range of #10 guaranteed money, plus a little something to save face for Parker.
If Crabtree sits out a year as a holdout, he would be the first high draft pick who has ever done that. It won't happen. I like the 49ers young receivers and have no clue as to how good Crabtree would be in the NFL. Give it a couple of more weeks. If he doesn't sign, trade him for a future number one (we have two next year, how about an extra one in 2011?) Believe me, it won't be hard to trade him. Or trade him to Carolina for Peppers? Re: Huard. A total waste of a roster spot (can you imagine what shape the team would be in if it actually needed this guy to play?) If it came to that, I'd rather see the young guy get a shot. Because if we don't have a young STAR QB on the horizon, we need to know that now as next year's draft is the motherlode.
Hey matt, is the reason that crabtree is holding out solely because money or is it possible that he just doesn't want to be a 49er?
Yeah!!! He would be the first high draft pick to do that!!! Bo Jackson did it but he was only drafted 1ST OVERALL after all 10th over all is so much higher than the first pick, there have got to be so many more players that get picked before the first overall gets picked!!!!
Idiot!!
I hope he signs but if he doesn't and re-enters I hope that he gets signed as the last pick in the draft "Mr. Irrelevant" After all Bo Jackson fell to the 7th round the year after being picked #1 over all and we all know that "Bo knows football!!!!"
http://www.splendad.com/ads/show/2334-Nike-Bo-Knows
Thanks Matt.
I have seen Nate Davis play alot of games.
He can make every NFL throw.
I know there are questions about the level of competition and his ability to learn the scheme, but his talent is way higher than Shaun Hill and his intangibles regarding leadership, grit, and determination are off the charts compared to Alex Smith.
I agree with the one commenter that if you're down to your 3rd QB, what kind of season are you having anyway so what's the point of keeping Huard. In my opinion, he was brought in because they are hedging in case they need to cut Alex Smith before the season. Your depth chart SHOULD be in week 1; Shaun Hill, Huard, Nate Davis.
Cut Alex Smith and get on with the real future of the team.