Wwdenverbroncos Basketball Betting News

<< Lakers celebrate 16th NBA championship
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A celebratory parade didn't seem plausible a week ago, with the Lakers having returned to Los Angeles after dropping Game 5 of the NBA Finals to the Boston Celtics. The loss placed the defending champs in

<< Jankovic, Clijsters, Henin win; Schiavone exits Wimbledon
Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former world No. 1s Jelena Jankovic, Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin were among Monday's first-round winners, while surprise French Open champion Francesca Schiavone exited the draw at The Championships,

<< Oklahoma City Thunder 2010 Draft Preview
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The best young team in basketball will have a chance to add a few more pieces to the puzzle in the 2010 NBA Draft. The past three drafts have given Oklahoma City Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka and

<< Federer survives; Roddick rolls at Wimbledon
Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Six-time champion Roger Federer was on the ropes but managed to avoid an opening-round shocker against game Colombian Alejandro Falla at Wimbledon. Last year's runner-up Andy Roddick joined Federer in the s

Monterey is more than Pebble Beach >>
Monterey, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Most golf nuts are always searching for that ultimate buddy trip. To play 12 rounds of golf in 5 days, visit the local establishments and enjoy the fruitful libation to the wee hours of the morning. Myrtle Be

Phoenix Suns 2010 Draft Preview >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Suns rebounded nicely this year after the Terry Porter debacle but that didn't stop Steve Kerr from announcing that he would not return as president and general manager when his contract expires on June 30. Kerr intend

Portland Trail Blazers 2010 Draft Preview >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Pritchard has built the Portland Trail Blazers into a contender in the Western Conference but he is reportedly not in the good graces of team owner Paul Allen. In fact, Pritchard has acknowledged he knows ownership i

Saints release DE McCray >>
Metairie, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Orleans Saints have released defensive end Bobby McCray. McCray, 28, signed with the Saints as an unrestricted free agent in 2008. The Florida product started eight of 32 regular-season ga

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.