Crabtree Threatening to Sit Out Season

49er fans want the 1980s back

Michael Crabtree's one-man campaign to get the NFL to seriously consider a rookie salary cap has taken a bizarre and unsettling turn. Now Crabtree's representatives say he's willing to sit out the entire season and re-enter the 2010 NFL Draft if the 49ers don't pay him top five money.

And by "Crabtree's representatives", I mean his cousin.

ProFootballTalk.com confirms that Team Crabtree is indeed threatening to sit out the season over his contract dispute. And that Crabtree's adviser speaking publicly for him is actually his cousin David Wells.

"I hope they're bluffing," Brent Musberger said on ESPN. "If not, fire your cousin."

Crabtree's thinking is that if he can't get top five money for being selected tenth overall by the 49ers in this year's draft, then he can sit out the year and get that top five money in next year's draft.

Mr. Crabtree, if you sit out this season, then Artie Lange is more likely to be selected in the top five of the 2010 NFL Draft than you are.

It's probably all just a negotiating ploy. A couple draftees threaten to sit out the season every year, but they always end up signing.

Bo Jackson sat out his rookie season in a contract dispute, but he had that whole Major League Baseball career going for him.

Unless Crabtree is serious about playing for the Kansas City Royals, it's fair to assume that this is an ill-advised bluff.

 Joe Kukura is a freelance writer who once maybe kind of said something about Michael Crabtree perhaps having some red flags.

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