Drtroitlions Basketball Betting News

<< Line of Scrimmage: Week 17 - Stop Whining About NFL Mediocrity
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - If you are presently in the company of someone who is crying like an infant over the mediocre state of the NFL, permission granted to beat them about the skull and face with a claw hammer. Waaaaah! At leas

<< Pacers slip past Rockets
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Luther Head's three-pointer drew iron with three seconds left as the Indiana Pacers held on to defeat the Houston Rockets 81-76. Jamaal Tinsley scored 17 points for Indiana, which has won thre

<< Giguere leaves with injury as Anaheim downs San Jose
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Perry netted the deciding goal midway through the third period, as Anaheim pulled out a 4-3 win over San Jose at the HP Pavilion. Goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere sustained a lower body injury wi

<< Kopitar lifts Kings over Coyotes
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Anze Kopitar scored the winning goal in the shootout as the Los Angeles Kings knocked off the Phoenix Coyotes, 4-3, at the Staples Center. Kopitar was the second shooter for the Kings and he buried a wrist

Wild take road woes to Motown >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Wild will try to put the longest road losing streak in franchise history to an end tonight when the club skates into Detroit's Joe Louis Arena to take on the formidable Red Wings. Minnesota has lost nine str

Surging Avs welcome Stars >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Avalanche look to maintain their strong recent form when they continue a homestand this evening with a visit from the Dallas Stars. The Avs have been playing their best hockey of the season as of late. The c

Lakers continue road trip in Orlando >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Lakers resume their road trip this evening when they take on the Orlando Magic at TD Waterhouse Centre. Los Angeles is 2-2 so far on its six-game road trip and 5-6 away from the Staples Center this season.

Canucks and Flames wrap up home-and-home >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Vancouver Canucks will shoot for a sweep of the Calgary Flames when the Northwest Division rivals wrap up a home-and-home series this evening at General Motors Place. Vancouver put an end to its three-game losing strea

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.