If agent Eugene Parker told the San Francisco 49ers, or intimated to them, that wide receiver Michael Crabtree is willing to sit out the entire season if his contract demands aren’t met, well, someone else has heard that before.
In a 36-day holdout by Cedric Benson in 2005, the Chicago Bears were told that sitting out the season was an option the running back would consider. To prove his point, Benson flew in from Texas during the stalemate and put the Lake County, Ill., home he had purchased on the market. The “For Sale” sign was the idea of Benson’s adviser, baseball agent Brian Peters, and it was dismissed quickly as a cheap ploy.
APAs a rookie in Chicago, Benson held out for 36 days.
Benson missed the entire preseason and training camp and was limited to 67 carries as he suffered a sprained knee in the middle of the season. The holdout put him in a bad light with a fan base that eventually turned on him, and he never found harmony in the locker room, where Thomas Jones was one of the most popular players. Benson claimed that defenders tried to hurt him the next summer in training camp.
This doesn’t mean Crabtree is headed down the same path. The regular season doesn’t begin for five weeks. There is still plenty of time. But if Crabtree’s absence extends from early August into early September, the Niners are going to have a difficult time getting him ready to produce on the field. Then he has a diminishing value to the organization because he’s simply not worth as much in the first year of the contract if he can’t be on the field performing. That’s where the Bears finally got Benson. General Manager Jerry Angelo announced he would start lowering the club’s take-it-or-leave-it offer because Benson wasn’t going to be as valuable in his rookie season. Shortly thereafter, a deal was made.
Parker’s trademark is the short contract. Teams either have to pay big or settle for the shorter deal. It’s what he did with Larry Fitzgerald in Arizona. Crabtree reportedly wants to top the contract of the No. 7 pick, Darrius Heyward-Bey, who pulled in a six-year contract worth $38.25 million with $23.5 million guaranteed and a max value of $54 million. When the sides settle — and they always do — maybe it’s a five-year structure that gets it done.
| powered by TheSeats.com |
Sunday’s showdown between the...
Super Bowl means catering to clients,...
Quarterback due $3 million on...
Previous NFL stop was with Texans
Veteran played 18 games for Chiefs...
Aug 07, 2009
09:47 AM
I've enjoyed NFP for quite some time, but always felt the one thing needed was a true football reporter. Great move, guys. I'm sure Biggs will help make sure those Sam Bradford and Matt Cassel hiccups don't occur again and really boost the credibility of the site.
As a former Tribune employee who has had countless conversations with two separate Bears writers, both old and current, I can't begin to describe the respect Biggs has in the Chicago sports world.
Hope The Biggs Report is updated as often as Lombardi and Bowen...