[h1]Niners, Crabtree meeting today[/h1]
Posted by Mike Florio on October 6, 2009 10:38 AM ET
Last month, 49ers owner Jed York
offered to have a sit-down with holdout receiver Michael Crabtree and his agent, Eugene Parker.
The only problem? Crabtree and Eugene never returned the R.S.V.P. card.
Instead, they've decided to simply show up in the Bay Area, making their intention to meet with the team via
hints dropped by Deion Sanders on NFLN and
leaks to the media.
All that said, a league source tells us that the 49ers will indeed meet with Crabtree and Parker today.
But all signs point to Crabtree caving in.
It is well known that Crabtree and Parker want more than the Raiders paid to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft. It is equally well known that the 49ers won't be deviating from the slot that applies to the tenth overall pick.
Though the details of the deal that were on the table in July will need to be adjusted in light of the fact that four games have been played, the source says that the Niners do not plan to punish Crabtree, but that the team likewise doesn't intend to reward him.
In other words, the Niners will be holding firm. Though they possibly will try to find a way to help Parker save a little face, the damage is already done.
Parker and Crabtree have blinked.
So what caused it? The 3-1 record, punctuated by a 35-0 win over the Rams likely helped. But we suspect that last week's pointed words from Hall of Famer Jim Brown had an impact on Crabtree.
This particular quote resonated with multiple league insiders: "[Y]ou don't realize that your legacy will be based upon how you perform,
not how much money you made?"
The question is whether it made an impact on Crabtree.