Cowboys release Watkins
Football Betting Lines
08/31/2010 - Irving, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Dallas Cowboys on Tuesday released veteran safety Patrick Watkins.
A fifth-round pick by the Cowboys in the 2006 draft, Watkins recorded 122 tackles and four interceptions over 49 games.
Dallas also placed tight end John Phillips on injured reserve and put linebacker Stephen Hodge on the physically unable to perform list.
Owings Mills, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Ravens acquired cornerback Josh Wilson from the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for a conditional 2011 draft pick. The 5-foot-9, 192-pound Maryland product was a second-round pick of th
<< Dolphins place OL Garner on IR
Davie, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Dolphins placed offensive lineman Nate
Garner on injured reserve and defensive end Philip Merling on the reserve/non-
football injury list.
Garner (foot) was competing for a starting role on Miami's o
<< Gophers suspend two for opener
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Minnesota has reportedly suspended senior
safety Kyle Theret and senior offensive lineman Dom Alford for Thursday's
season opener for a violation of team policy.
According to the St. Paul Pioneer
<< Titans DT Brown back at practice
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Tony Brown
returned to practice on Tuesday after being removed from the physically unable
to perform list.
Brown, who had offseason surgery on his right knee, is expected to
<< Real Madrid loans Drenthe to Hercules
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Madrid loaned defender Royston Drenthe
to promoted Hercules on Tuesday for the rest of the La Liga season.
Drenthe, a Netherlands international, joined Real in 2007 from Feyenoord, but
has struggled t
Provo, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brigham Young University officially announced its resignation from the Mountain West Conference, effective June 30, 2011, in its quest to become a football independent next season. The Cougars will re-join the We
Lomg-time Stamps physician Murphy passes away >>
Calgary, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Calgary Stampeders physician Dr. Vince Murphy
has passed away at the age of 87, the team announced Tuesday.
Dr. Murphy was associated with the Stampeders since 1957. A release from the
team said Murphy pass
Arena Football League commissioner Kurz to return in 2011 >>
Tulsa, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arena Football League commissioner Jerry B. Kurz
had his contract extended Tuesday and will return for the 2011 season.
"I couldn't be more pleased to continue to lead the resurgence of the Arena
Football Le
Soul name Mike Hohensee head coach >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Soul named Mike Hohensee
as the team's head coach for when they return to the Arena Football League in
2011.
The Soul, who won the ArenaBowl in 2008 before the AFL folded, will return t
Pierzynski's late HR lifts ChiSox over Tribe >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A.J. Pierzynski's three-run blast in the
ninth provided the difference, as the White Sox beat the Cleveland Indians,
4-3, in Manny Ramirez's first game in a Chicago uniform.
Pierzynski's seventh home
FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million
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.
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