Does anyone
honestly (be honest now) believe that he would be thrilled to sign a 10th overall slotted contract, and would do so? Especially after seeing a temporary injury push him down the board, and get passed by DHB.
This contract problem was obvious a long time ago, so I don't see why people are so upset to this date. This is not a normal 10th overall selection, it surely wasn't on draft day, and it won't magically become one just because we want it to.
The Niners are going to have to craft a creative contract to get this done, and if not, I think he simply walks away.
P.S. Once again, I don't understand the anger. I think if you put yourself in Crabtree's shoes as one of the dominant players entering the draft, seeing your stock drop due to a temporary injury, personally knowing that you should have been the first WR picked if not for that temporary injury, see that player who undeservedly jump you receive a massively overinflated salary, only to see him stink it up in camps and preseason games, hear of interest from other teams who are willing to throw down big money on you, and are interested in you as their first rounder next year, and think that you can prove the doubters wrong....why would you want to sign a fully-slotted 10th overall contract.
People are way too overemotional. He simply thinks he deserves better, and I believe he has a good case.
Furious response in 5,4,3,2,1...go!
Wait, one final note: If Crabtree was willing to sign for one dollar less than DHB before Monroe and Raji signed, the Niners were the ones who screwed up. The 8th and 9th slots were not closed until late in the negotiation game. The Niners could have not "broken the slot" if they gave Crabtree one less dollar than DHB. Of course, we will never know what each side offered, if Crabtree wanted more, if the Niners offered something more than now before Monroe and Raji signed, etc.
[ Edited by MadDog49er on Sep 8, 2009 at 14:26:19 ]