Frankly, I have no idea why the 49ers held this conference. Singletary made it very clear that he was not going to share the numbers. The Crabtree gave out these non-answer answers. Apart from a haebeas corpus, I don't know what else the 49ers proved.

Crabtree seems like somebody that wants to come in and contribute. The more this went on, the more of a feeling I got that Eugene Parker was holding him back. Hopefully see him on the field against Houston after the bi-week. As a season ticket holder I am not going to boo him, but I also want to see him play hard on the field.

I meant to say "Then Crabtree ..."

Matt,
There are so many questions that still haven't been answers by the Crabtree camp. Why didn't Parker attend? Is he embarrassed about how things went down? Did Crabtree tell him not too? Depending how the contract winds up, I would think that Parker and Crabtree lost the battle and that combined with the pending investigation, he doesn't want to face the media.

Oh for Pete's sake, this is a perfect press conference. He had to say something and the most important thing he could possibly have done is to express humility and a willingness to work hard within Singletary's ethic. The kid's stock went way up in my book.

As far as the team accepting him...
We will never know what goes on in the locker room but the biggest thing I got out of the conference was when Coach Sing said... "I've told the team and they all know... If you have a problem with another teammate. You need to go to them directly and talk to them like a man. Don't go through the coaches, don't go through the media. You be man enough to talk to them person to person."

This team is becoming a family... they know it's a business and as long as Crabtree works his tail off he'll be fine. Something special is happening right now and now Crabtree is part of it.

I Love what is happening!!!

ATL here we COME!!!

I think Parker seems like Drew Rosenhaus without the PR (good or bad). I can respect that Parker nor his client ever made negative remarks public and that the 9ers front office did the same. Parker I think did gas Crabtree up to hold out and get more money just because that is what he does with all his clients and until now it has worked. Parker is a ruthless negotiator and holds a strong reputation around the league...the only reason Crabtree signed is because I think he put the pressure on Parker to just get something done. There is no way Parker wanted to sign Crabs to a 6 yr deal or to have some of these performance-based incentives I have read about on PFT. They simply had no leverage left and Crabtree wanted to get a deal done so they expanded off the original offer to at least give him a chance to make the money he originally wanted...albeit a very very small chance. Looks like the first game we will see him in is against the Texans so that is when the test begins.

I love it...we sign Crabtree and set the tone for future picks that the niners don't play that BS! Thanks Crabs, can't wait to see you on the field doing what you do best.

The press conference was smart. If he didn't do it he would be constantly hounded and paparazzi'd while he needs to be focusing on football and getting ready. This conference will help.

On a side note, Matt I noticed you got to ask the first question and no one else tried to interupt you or step on your question to get theirs there first also Crabtree looked at you knowing you would have the first question.

Did you find out some inside info and get the privileged to ask the first question? Kinda like the movie "Deep impact"? You got the first question because you held your tongue on something maybe :) ???

They proved all the class in the room was on Singletary & Crabtree's side of the table.

Who was the media moron that twisted Crabtree's words to ask him: "So did holding out all those days make you humble?"

And the media wonder why 99% of the world hate their guts.

I also like that the 9ers forced him to do the press conference. It is a good first step as a professional athlete, fulfilling the increased responsibilities, and taking responsibility for his actions.

Amen to that J.D...

I very highly doubt any picks next year will try an pull this on the 49ers.

.... errr .... Crabtree did get more money by holding out - $2+ million guaranteed.

Should've asked him to address the alleged tampering once & for all. I don't think the media is going to another public opportunity.

Dan and Ike,I think you two have the right perspective on this thing!

Crabs said his agent was doing everything and he was just staying in great shape and doing what his agent told him was best. When the niners filed chargers against the Jets and then when the Jets abandoned Parker and went after Braylon Edwards,that was probably the straw that broke the Parker's back. The Niners played this perfectly and Parker lost big time. I still hope that Crabs finally saw what was happening and told Parker to get a deal done,but to hear Crabs tell it,he never even watched the news or read anything about what was going on. Just a naive kid ,who knows nothing about business (as sing said a day or so ago,he only knows what advisors are telling him).
I suppose we could blame Crabs for not being a business major,lol, but in reality these 21 year old football players are just not involved much in their negotiations (like we heard from another holdout this year,the seahawks LBer Curry,who nsaid he never knew anything but what his agent told him,he just waited throughout the hold out,until his agent told him to sign. Crabs let it go much further,but still,we see that these young kids don't do these holdouts because that is what they want but because their greedy agents want to put another trophy on their wall.the kids just want to play ball !) .Crabs and his family did hire THE guy with the best reputation for getting the best deals in the NFL,so it's no surprise that Crabs was not at fault for any of the nonsense and accusations in the media,it was all in Parker's control . But our young guns in the Niners leadership stared Parker down and he caved. Great job,as usual Scott and Jed !!!
Now we need to give the kid a fresh start and judge him on how he acts from now on (and before he met Parker). He is now under the microscope because of Parkers actions. I think his character and football skills will make him a fan favorite.

Your an idiot realfan...

what do you think crabs will make in his 6th year if he is a free agent after 5??

I would guess it would be alot more than 2 million if he lives up to his potential/hype... If not the extra 2 doesn't hurt the 9ers

Win win for the 9ers... lose lose for Parker

deal is as follows:

base deal is 6 years and $32 million
$17 million guaranteed
additional incentives could grow to $40 million
contract voids to 5 years if MC makes Pro Bowl 2 of those years, or if he makes Pro Bowl 1 year and plays 80% of the plays in another season that the team makes playoffs.

What did he gain from the holdout?? He gained several million more dollars, that's what. He is not humbled; what a bunch of BS. This pos is all about himself, his clothes, and his bank account. The 49ers again show piss poor management, and now they will try to sugar coat this guy so they do not lose any more fan support. What a joke. The only question left is how much "bling" he will be wearing while on the sidelines this Sunday.

Yeah, but we got an extra year out of him.

actually the base guarantee salary is less than the original deal.

learn math please.

Matt, at the end someone asked about the Hammer. Was that you?? That was great.

Also personally how did you feel Crabtree's had some remorse if you can call it that?

who was the media moron? that would be either Lowell Cohn or Kevin Lynch. Matt, any comments?

Don't waste your time with that one. Logic and arithmetic just bounce right off.

Back to football. Matt, there is no way they chance Frank this week is there? My vote would be to leave him shut down through the bye.

Where'd you get the contract specs? I totally missed them apparently.

err not extra money when you consider it is for an extra year. If grabtree plays as well as he thinks he is, the 9ers will have to rework the contract well before 6 years are up. Just look at Fitzgerald. He was not great his first two years, yet still got his contract re-worked and he was a much higher draft pick.

Wait a sec.... so I just listened to the entire press conference. I was confused earlier about MC Hammer. I guess the ex-rapper was there.

I thought Scott McCloughan was MC Hammer.

MC (for McCloughan) Hammer (for his hard stance in the negotiations)

Now that would be a cool nick name.

No team has ever played that BS.

Right on Benny Blanco & JD!!

Great posts. I agree, I do think something special is happening with this team & Singletary is THE MAN. I love his team first, family atmosphere he's creating with this team.

Loved how Sing stepped in to protect his new addition to the Niner family. Now let's get to work & get ready for ATL! I like Ryan but I want to see him on his a** multiple times. DESTROY the enemy for that 60 minutes on Sunday. NINERS!!!!

WOW! I can't believe you think Crabtree showed any class with his answers. That media person did not twist Crabtree's words around. You don't seem to understand that concept. Crabtree was asked a straight-up question. A question that is very fair given his response about his "himbling experience." Just to clue you in on common logic: you can not have a humbling experience without experience some humbling.

Topcat, I believe Crabtree knew exactly what was going on the whole time. YEs your agent advises you, but you are on the phone involved and understanding what you are doing or someone else is doing for your career. I believe Crabtree is just trying to save face and move on with the Niners, but HE KNEW WHAT HE WAS DOING. He knew there was another team and a possible Dallas (home town) or New York (arguable the best city in the world). But what is he going to say, "Yes I thought there was opportunity next year or through a trade." psst, this guy knew. But let's move on and see what happens. This is a great time to be a Niner fan, finally. WOW!

No realfan,Crabs got a WORSE contract than probably was offered at one time by the Niners.They just said that he only got a little over $17 million guaranteed. (I thought it would be $18).
But the main thing is that Parker was FORCED to accept a 6 year deal and that is like death for him. He made his reputation on getting his players the shortest contracts possible (he wanted a 4 year deal). The shorter the contract the sooner he gets his clients to their free agency contract. And this deal is reportedly chock full of incentives,and that is bad for the player if he doesn't play great and get the stats.
This IS a HUGE win for the Niners and a big time loss for Parker's reputation ! And this is probably a big win for Crabs,to get away from the agent and next to Sing and get back to what he does best,play football. And he is now a big time millonaire ! So it is a win,win lose. Niners win,Crabs win,Parker lose,big time !
Great job by Scott and Paraag and of course Jed and sing !!!

I'm not trying to defend Parker, but he is known for making sure his players don't blow through all their money and helping them invest properly. he's a very good guy for crabs to have in his corner, now that the deal is done. we might all be pissed at him now, but at the end of the day, he works for his client. not the fans, and certainly not the 49ers.

there is nothing wrong with Parker, except we as fans don't appreciate his negotiating tactics. and yeah, this deal could have been done in July. but he's here now, and that's all that matters.

He's got an extra $2+ million in his pocket RIGHT NOW than the offer the Niners made before the start of the season.

I think I'd like someone to give me $2+ million before I played a single down in the NFL and that's money I get to keep whatever happens on the field (poor performance, injury etc).

As for year 6, that's a long ways off. Lot of different things can play out before then. If he's great, it will be voided. If he's good but not great, the Niners will try to resign him before the 6 years are up to avoid losing him to free agency. If he's a bust, it dont matter, he'll be loooong gone.

Now, see, there you go with those darn facts again. Assuming the terms you've seen are accurate (and as of yet I haven't seen anything concrete) then your analysis is spot on. The problem is Realfan's basically immune to facts when it comes to explaining rookie contracts. You may have to translate your last post from english into nonsensical jibberish so it can be understood by all.

You make a good point. Maybe if Parker had sat down with Jed before the season started, this very same deal could have been agreed.

But you don't know that so don;y go claiming it as fact.

And if your guess is right, why didn't the Niners offer this deal way back then?

....errrr....there is also language in the contract to protect them from Parker coming back in 3 years and trying to renegotiate and hold Crabtree out again. No one including me knows all terms but even if we did have to give an extra 2 mill for that protection then it is money well spent. It remains to be seen whether this kid will even be any good but I like that they can void the deal after 5 if he is not performing and also if he is performing it automatically voids the sixth year so he can get paid. That is an excellent compromise and all you haters say what you want about Paraag, McGM, and Jedidiah but I believe they did an excellent job of finding middle ground on this and getting it done. The only negative thing I can see is that it took so long but that is a two-way street.

Shawnrhod: No,Crabs probably did NOT know what was going on ,except in a general way. A couple of months ago his college HC said that Crabtree was probably not going to be keeping up with the negotiations at all. He said that if you know Crabs you know he is JUSY a good kid and a football player,and wouldn't be and didn't want to be involved in even knowing what his hired expert was doing day to day or even where he stood in the big picture. That is rather foreign to you and I but it seems rather par for the course for these young ignorant football players. That is why they hire these sharks to handle their business.
As I said,we got more in depth from Curry ,when he signed with Seattle after his 2 week hold out,he said the same thing ,that he never knew ANYTHING about what was going on,he just kept in shape and waited for a call from his agent to tell him when to sign. He was holding out and yet he wasn't even in contact with his agent at all !!! I don't understand that but apparently most of these guys are not rocket scientists and prefer to just be football players and not business tycoons.

they basically did. only with less guaranteed money and an extra year.

not only that, but all the incentives are considered high tier. no mid tier incentives like b.j. raji did.

it really is the same deal that was offered, only not quite as good.

Not quite sure what you are saying but as a real fan, I like those terms designed to prevent him from holding out in the future. And you're right, if it cost $2m to get those added, it's a great deal.

I'm done with arguing contracts.

Bottom line is we have a classy young man who's decade of hard work to develop his God given talent is walking around today with $18m or so in his pocket that he didn't have yesterday.

Mike Singletary has got a rare talent that he can hopefully mold into a very good NFL player.

And we real fans will get one more win this year because Crabtree is now on the team. Guaranteed.

Realfan: We heard over a month ago that the Niners were willing to give him up to $1 under what Raji got. That would be $18 million guaranteed and 28.5 million overall.
The deal that Parker was forced to accept was not that good. The Niners broght him to his knees but they still gave the kid a more than fair deal,as they would have given him from day 1.
The holdout benifited Parker and Crabs not 1 cent !!! Parker called Scott,not the other way around. Crabs said the whole mess humbled him,but if we could look in Parkers heart (if he has one,lol),we would see what humbled is really all about ! In the dictionary,from now on,it will have a picture of Parker next to the word humbled !

err no, but I'm done arguing.

please remember... all the other stuff is fluff.

from the agent and players perspective, the only thing that matters is guaranteed money.

$17 mill over 6 years is a base guarantee of $2.83 million
$16 mill over 5 years is a base guarantee of $3.2 million
$18 mill over 5 years is $3.6 million (B.J.Raji deal)

now, all the other stuff is fluff... and top tier fluff at that, unlike in Raji's deal where his incentives are pretty easy to meet.

he MIGHT earn the incentives, if he really plays great. it's crap numbers put there for ego, and on the off chance that he turns in pro bowl player.

and if he does get the 6th year voided, the guarantee money drops down to $13 million

If you want to continue to think $16m is better than $18m that's your prerogative.

But I'm done arguing.

Team is now better, Jed is a tad poorer, birds are singing and we're gonna whup the Falcons. Life is good.

realfan... come on. you're a smart guy.

$2.83 million is almost 400k a year less than $3.2 million

and 1 year father from free agency to boot.

like a true pro he avoided or dodged half the questions that were asked of him.

I loved the way Coach put the Press in its place. All this talk about Diva, blah blah blah..

We are looking ahead not back.

Great Signing! Crabtree will be All-Pro in two years!

oh.. let's not forget...

Eugene parker wanted DHB money... 4 years around $23 million guaranteed.

right now, the going rate to franchise a WR is around $10 million dollars. what will it be 5-6 years from now?

the 6th year is paid out as a $4 million no incentive deal. let's assume that the franchise price at that point will be somewhere around $11.5 mill or higher... now, ther eis no way in hell Parker can this a victory. in fact, I imagine he blames Crabtree while trying to explain this to potential recruits. and it seriously limits the possibility of getting a 3rd deal. something he's going to get for Fitzgerald.

You have this right Ronnie Lott !
And I did hear on the radio that reports are now out that the deal is $17.2 million guaranted. (we will see later what the details really are)
Even Parker can never spin this as him getting Crabs more money because of the long,useless hold out.
Scott and Jed have gone up in stature in the estimation of everyone that has anything to do with the NFL, by the way they handled this.
Great job of winning by the front office,just like sing is doing on the field !

Now they are saying the guarantee was UNDER $17 million !
Even a better deal for the Niners than I thought !

I'm not sure the whole truth will ever come out, but this may have been an attempt by Parker to change the whole balance of power in the NFL from the collective team owners to one where the players -- really the agents -- hold all the cards. Crabtree was almost the perfect player around whom to build this gambit. It may have involved Crabtree sitting out this year, a side deal with the Jets to guarantee drafting him next year for a draft-wrecking amount of money (more than enough to instantly make up for the salary he would have lost this year), making every player coming out of college in effect a free agent and calling the shots on salary, length of contract, etc., and the rich owners having a better chance to control their teams' destinies. If this was the case, the fly in the ointment was Deion Sanders shooting off his mouth and -- perhaps inadvertently -- exposing the whole sordid machination. This put attention on the Jets and Cowboys, and perhaps some front-office dweeb called someone's agent from a public restaurant and was overheard by a sports reporter. Who knows? At any rate, things changed when the Niners filed a tampering charge against the Jets. If that side deal were in place and the Jets made good on their end of it, the league would have tried to execute a pro variation of the NCAA death sentence (no draft picks for 3 years), many court battles would have ensued, and the fans would have stayed away in droves, disgusted by the whole mess.

But for the moment at least, history has reverted to a different, more normal path, order is maintained, and Mr. Crabtree will ply his trade with the Niners for the next few years.

Comparing franchise tag money to this deal only makes sense if the kid performs like a top 5 wideout which remains to be seen. This offense needs to get a lot more complex and take more chances if they're gonna pay all these receivers millions (including #3 WR Brandon Jones) Boy does THAT seem like a waste of money right now...

Matt are we going to keep all the wide receivers? Hope tge niners will keep jason hill. I believe this guy will contribute a lot in the team's success.

Matt - I think it would be perfect if the fans greeted Michael Crabtree's 1st NFL reception with dead silence. Silence would speak louder than boo's mixed with applause. We need help from you and others in the media to get the word out.

As I accepted M.Crabtree is just a young kid which was influenced by his agent. I was very pleased with his answers and I truly believe he will fit right in this team.

Now Jets on the other hand appear to be guilty! Deion is not that smart to just make thinks up! and how come suddenly they trade for a WR!!! I thought they were the golden team!

I use to hate Faders, Cowpukes and now I will cheer for any team that will play the Jets and Panthers.

GO NINERS

The past is dead. Let's bury it. finally As far as I am concerned: holdout? what holdout?. This fan is going to welcome Crabtree with open arms.

I wonder if anyone noticed that Raye tried a couple of Wide Receiver screens against the Rams. I am salivating at the thought of Crabtree with he ball on a WR screen with blockers in front. I am also looking forward to a reprisal of the famous Jerry Rice slant from the slot receiver position. I am sure Singletary remembers the Jerry Rice slant all too well. It was a Rice 60+ yard TD on a slant which broke the backs of the Bears in the 1988 NFC Championship.

You know, Realfan, I think I kind of see your point. From certain perspectives it's possible to conclude Crabtree got a better deal for holding out. Whether or not that actually turns out to be the case depends on what Crabtree does.

If this contract is the only major one he'll ever sign then he did right by holding out. If he gets injured or turns in to a Rashaun Woods-type bust then in retrospect he'll have gotten the best deal he could.

If the general consensus of this board is correct and Crabtree is an amazing prospect bound for NFL glory then he got screwed by putting off the second contract by another year.

From Crabtree's perspective I think he believes he fits more in to the latter than the former. So if you're sold on his potential then he screwed himself. If you're not he did well. Time will tell.

Screw you Crabgreed.

"Doing the best job I can do. Anything coach asks me to do, whether it's block or running go-routes for no reason, I'm doing it all just to win. Anything I can to do help the team win, I'm here."

If you REALLY wanted to help this team win, your ass would've been here for training camp, for the pre-season, and for the first 5 games of the regular season. Quit acting humble and innocent.

All I want to know is how many times will he run the "hill" before the week is over...

Parker got taken to the woodshed by the Niners and Crabs got 0 more money than he could have had in July.
I hope Parker has been shown up for the fraud he is,especially since he apparently was not man enough to stand up for his client at the press conference,because he was so embarrased he had his client hold out 2 months for absolutly NOTHING !