Crabtree still on outside looking in

<p>SANTA CLARA — The 49ers open the exhibition season Friday night, and their first-round draft pick Michael Crabtree almost assuredly will not be at Candlestick Park.</p><p>Multiple well-placed league sources anticipate Crabtree’s absence has the potential to continue for weeks.</p><p>The 49ers and Crabtree’s agent, Eugene Parker, have regular conversations, but negotiations are non-existent, sources said. That’s because the 49ers and Crabtree have differing ideas of where the contract should be slotted among the other draft picks.</p><p>The 49ers are getting a lot of support among agents and NFL executives for their stance that Crabtree, the second wide receiver chosen in the draft, should receive a contract that is fair for the No. 10 overall selection.</p><p>“Eugene Parker wants seventh-pick money and it’s not going to happen,” said one agent who often negotiates with the 49ers. “The 49ers are not going to cave in.”</p><p>The 49ers’ main decision-makers in the process are young: president Jed York, general manager Scot McCloughan and chief negotiator Paraag Marathe. If they want to have long careers, said one league course, they must establish they can’t be pushed around.</p><p>Said one long-time NFL general manager: “It would have catastrophic effects for their futures in the league.”</p><p>If the 49ers established a precedent of getting bullied into negotiating “bad contracts,” it would be nearly impossible for them to get future first-round picks to report on time to training camp, he said.</p><p>The 49ers are scheduled to own two first-round selections in 2010 because of a draft-day trade with the Carolina Panthers.</p><p>Prior to Crabtree, none of the 49ers’ six first-round picks over the past four years missed a day of training camp due to contract issues.</p><p>Crabtree’s cousin and advisor, David Wells, publicly threatened a season-long holdout in a recent interview with ESPN. Wells cited his belief that Crabtree should get a contract similar to the deal Darrius Heyward-Bey, the No. 7 overall pick, signed with the Raiders. Heyward-Bey received a five-year, $38.25 million contract with $23.5million guaranteed.</p><p>League sources said Crabtree’s representation has focused on Heyward-Bey’s contract. Therefore, it is of little consequence that picks at No. 6 (Andre Smith), No. 8 (Eugene Monroe), No. 9 (B.J. Raji) and No. 11 (Aaron Maybin) have yet to sign with their respective teams: Cincinnati, Jacksonville, Green Bay and Buffalo.</p><p>Crabtree figures to receive guaranteed figures of approximately $16 million on a five-year contract or $19.5 million for six years — if the 49ers add a reasonable 18-percent increase onto the deal the New England Patriots last year gave linebacker Jerod Mayo, the No. 10 pick.</p><p>Although wide receivers have the third-highest franchise number — behind quarterbacks and cornerbacks — those who play the position are not given any special consideration when determining rookie contracts. The only position ever given a traditional increase from its draft slot is quarterback.</p><p>If Crabtree decided to accept the money commensurate with the No. 10 pick, the contract with the 49ers could be completed in 30 minutes, a source said. But with the 49ers unlikely to budge, Crabtree’s camp would have to make major concessions to get a deal done.</p><p>NFL players do not begin receiving any portion of their base salaries until the start of the regular season, so Crabtree has not lost any substantial money with his absence, which enters Day 17.</p><p>If Crabtree decided to take a hard-line approach and refuse to sign, the 49ers would control his rights until the 2010 draft. Crabtree could then re-enter the draft. If the 49ers fail to sign Crabtree, they would receive no compensation.</p><p>The longer Crabtree remains unsigned, the more likely it becomes that he will not have a significant role with the 49ers as a rookie. After all, he has already missed 22 practices through Thursday.</p><p>“If and when he does become a part of it, we’ll have to accelerate the process to try to get him familiar with the quarterback and the system,” 49ers offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye said. “It’s a detriment at this point. It’s the business side of it that we really don’t have control over and we’ll embrace him when he comes.”</p><p>For more on the 49ers, go to Instant 49ers at http://blog.pressdemocrat.com/49ers. You can reach Staff Writer Matt Maiocco via email at matt.maiocco@pressdemocrat.com</p>