Kawakami / PFT: Crab holdout likely to reach Sept

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2009/08/12/report-crabtree-holdout-likely-to-reach-september/

The Michael Crabtree holdout has apparently reached a standstill, with no end in sight.

Crabtree's agent Eugene Parker wants a slot-busting deal, and the 49ers aren't budging from their initial offer.

According to Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News, the two sides aren't likely to move until the weeks or days before San Francisco's Week One opener on September 13.

Kawakami cites a "highly placed source" and his report was seconded on Twitter by Matt Maiocco of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.

"One side (Crabtree) will have to eat crow and sign deal that was offered in June," Maiocco writes.

If this timetable holds, Crabtree's rookie season is likely to be adversely affected, not unlike what happened to JaMarcus Russell in 2007. Crabtree hasn't fully practiced as a pro, and his chance to start opening the season would likely be gone by September.

If fellow holdouts Packers DT B.J. Raji and Bills DE Aaron Maybin are waiting for Crabtree to sign, it sounds like they have a few more weeks to kill.

Here we go with the locks

I hope the niners don't give in... sounds like they won't. The niners definently have the leverage.

Already posted, see other Crabtree thread(s)