Redskons Football Betting News

<< Jets Need Win in Miami to Aid Playoff Hopes
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Prior to the start of the 2006 NFL season, it was easy to look at a Christmas night matchup between the Jets and Dolphins in Miami and expect one team to be looking to advance its playoff position, while the other played the

<< Jaguars' Taylor out for Week 16
Jacksonville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jacksonville Jaguars running back Fred Taylor is expected to miss Week 16's game against the New England Patriots because of a hamstring injury. Taylor started the week listed as questionable and

<< Preds' Nichol gets nine-game suspension
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nashville Predators forward Scott Nichol has been suspended for nine games, without pay, for his blind-side punch to the head of Buffalo Sabres defenseman Jaroslav Spacek during Thursday night's 7-2 setback

<< 49ers' Bryant suspended four games
Santa Clara, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Antonio Bryant has been suspended four games for violating the NFL Substance Abuse Policy. Bryant was arrested last month for suspicion of drunk driving, among ot

Boston signs RHP Hernandez to minor league deal >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox signed pitcher Runelvys Hernandez to a minor league contract Friday. Hernandez will join Triple-A Pawtucket of the International League, but he was also invited to Boston's major leag

Spezza sidelined with knee injury >>
Ottawa, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Ottawa Senators will be without points leader Jason Spezza for an indefinite period due to a left knee injury he suffered in Thursday's 4-2 home loss to Tampa Bay. According to TSN in Canada, the

Denver Nuggets >>
Waived forward Ivan McFarlin.

Tar Heels blast Billikens in Hansbrough's homecoming >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tyler Hansbrough had a game-high 15 points to go along with 13 rebounds in his Missouri homecoming, as the second-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels bested the Saint Louis Billikens, 69-48. Hansbrough, a P

FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million

Football Betting

In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.

And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.

Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.

So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.

Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)

The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.

As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.

The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.

In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.

Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.

And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.

So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.

There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.

So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.

And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.

There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)

Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.

Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.

Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.

So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.

NFL Betting Lines

To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.