According to Jay Glazer of FOX Sports, the 49ers and Michael Crabtree have agreed to a six-year deal after his agent Eugene Parker had a face-to-face meeting with the team’s vice president of football operations Paraag Marathe on Wednesday morning.

Contract details weren’t immediately released, but Glazer reports that the deal can be voided after five years if Crabtree has “two very good years among his first four.” If he doesn’t, he’ll make $4 million in the sixth year.

If the final contract numbers are similar to the Niners’ first offer of five years, $20 million with $16 million guaranteed, then this was a massive fail by Parker. In the end, he essentially advised Crabtree to holdout for all of training camp and four weeks of the season only to receive the same contract that he would have had if he signed in the offseason. Only now, Crabtree gave up four-plus games of his career and is now behind the eight ball in trying to get that final year voided.

This will go down as one of the all-time agent blunders. The arrogance of Parker to think that he could command more money than the draft slot his client was taken in is outright laughable. And if other athletes were paying attention to how this all went down then Parker also cost himself future clients with his stupidity.

Moving forward, Crabtree probably won’t see the field for the next couple weeks as he attempts to get caught up on the playbook and back into playing shape. He probably won’t make an impact in his first year, which is another thing he can thank Parker for.

Eugene Parker cost Michel Crabtree, at the very least, half of his first season. The kid could have gotten better advice from a dead squirrel lying on the side of the highway.

Crabtree’s fantasy value? In most leagues, he doesn’t have much. Rookie wide receivers don’t usually make a splash their first year, and Crabtree has missed all of training camp and the first four games of the regular season, so he is WAY behind. That said, if you’re in a keeper league with big rosters, Crabtree does have some value. If you have a place to stash him and he becomes a decent threat for the 49ers late in the season, then he would be an asset heading into the summer. Obviously, Crabtree has a lot of value in dynasty leagues.

In a recent interview with Sirius XM radio, former NFL legend Jim Brown had some advice for Michael Crabtree, the 49ers rookie who is holding out for a bigger contract offer.

From the San Jose Mercury News:

Jim Brown, who made $85,000 in the final season of his Hall of Fame career, has a message for the 49ers’ first-round draft pick:

“Mr. Crabtree, get your butt in camp,’’ he said.

In an interview with Sirius XM radio, Brown told host Joe Madison that Michael Crabtree’s current stance is “totally ridiculous” and said that an athlete’s career is measured by the way he plays, not the contract he signs.

“You don’t realize that your legacy will be based upon how you perform, not how much money you made?” Brown said on the show.
Brown visited 49ers training camp in August. Crabtree was absent because of a contract stalemate that shows no sign of a breakthrough three games into the regular-season. Reports peg the 49ers offer as a five-year deal that includes $16 million in guarantees.

It’s painstakingly clear that Crabtree is only about the money. If he truly cared about football he would have already accepted the 49ers’ original offer (which was for fair, market value by the way) and would be contributing on the field right now.

If it’s not killing Crabtree that his team is currently atop the NFC West standings at 2-1 and he can’t contribute in some way, then the 49ers should cut their losses and move on because the kid doesn’t have the fire to play.

And that’s just not going to fly on a team coached by Mike Singletary.

According to 49ers beat writer Matt Maiocco, the 49ers could have trouble signing first round pick Michael Crabtree in time for the start of training camp.

If history tells us anything it’s that Crabtree’s agent, Eugene Parker, does not mind engaging in holdout tactics. (Technically, an unsigned rookie is not a “holdout” because no contract has been agreed upon. I’ll try my best to refrain from calling it a holdout. Rather, it’s a contract stalemate.)

At least four of Parker’s clients had contract issues last season. Bills tackle Jason Peters skipped 43 days and missed the season opener. Rams running back Steven Jackson held out for 27 days before signing a new contract. Bears return man Devin Hester did not report for the first two days of camp before signing a new deal. And Cardinals rookie cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie missed two practices before signing his contract.

Yes, the 49ers have been successful in getting their draft picks signed on time in recent years. But the agents deserve some credit, too.

The 49ers – and every team in the NFL – believe that a player’s rookie contract is essentially predetermined by where he was selected in the draft. As the No. 10 overall pick, Crabtree should receive less than the No. 9 pick and a little more than No. 11.

I don’t believe the 49ers would buy the suggestion that Crabtree deserves more money because a lot of outsiders thought he should have been selected sooner in the draft and he was generally regarded as a better prospect than receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, whom the Raiders selected with the seventh pick.

As Maiocco indicates in the article, there’s still a ton of time and more importantly, only four first round picks have signed (Matthew Stafford, Mark Sanchez, Alex Mack and “Ziggy” Hood) up to this point, which indicates that it isn’t out of the norm that the Niners haven’t signed Crabtree yet. It might take the Packers signing B.J. Raji (who was selected a pick ahead of Crabtree) or the Bills signing Aaron Maybin (who was selected a pick behind Crabtree) before the 49ers are able to work out a deal with Crabtree.

Either way, panic shouldn’t be setting in San Fran just yet.

49ers’ head coach Mike Singletary is an intimidating man – just ask No. 10 overall pick Michael Crabtree.

Singletary also said he almost made first-round draft pick Michael Crabtree cry. Singletary found him running routes during the first minicamp and admonished him for running before he was cleared by the medical staff. Crabtree is recovering from off-season foot surgery.
Singletary recounted the conversation he had with his prized rookie.

“‘I’ve got nothing against you. I’m not angry or anything. I just want you to know, you have to do everything the doctors want you to do so that you can get better.’ I said, ‘I’m not worried about what you can do.’ I said, ‘I know. We drafted you at No. 10. We know what you can do. We just want to make sure that when you come out here, you’re ready to go.’ So, he’s done the things that he needs to do, spending a lot of time with (receivers coach Jerry] Sullivan. I know Jerry is excited about what he’s seeing as well.”

Crabtree has started sprinting and should be ready for the start of training camp.

Hell, I’d cry if Singletary were yelling at me, too. I’d need a new pair of underwear to boot.

This doesn’t seem like a big deal, nor should it be made into one. I think the fact that Crabtree is so anxious to get back onto the field is a great sign, especially considering how many prima donnas there are at receiver in the NFL. I just hope this isn’t an indication of Crabtree’s toughness (or lack thereof).

A lot of pundits believe that 49ers’ first round pick Michael Crabtree will make the biggest impact this season among offensive rookies. But as Sacramento Bee beat writer Matt Barrows points out in a recent Q&A, Crabtree might not be a lock to start Week 1 as he continues to rehab a foot injury he suffered the week of the NFL scouting combine.

…Just a few years ago, the team’s top three wide receivers were Cedrick Wilson, Brandon Lloyd and Curtis Conway. As for the current situation … while Morgan and Crabtree currently are slated to play the “X” position this season, all the 49ers receivers are taught to play multiple positions. For example, Morgan lined up and both “X” and “Z” during the recent OTAs. Which is to say, if those two end up being the team’s top two receivers, the 49ers will find a way to get them on the field at the same time.
Having said that … Keep in mind that Crabtree (foot) won’t be able to practice with the team until training camp. So he’s not only a rookie learning how to play against big, physical cornerbacks, he’s also getting a late start on the learning process. In other words, there’s no guarantee he’ll be a starter in Week One.

This isn’t earth-shattering news to hear that a rookie has a long way to go before he’s considered a starter. But it’s a reminder that even though Crabtree has a ton of expectations being thrust upon him already, he still has to put in the work this summer in order to climb the depth chart and become a full-time starter. It’ll be interesting to watch his development throughout mini and training camps over the next couple months.