Dear 49ers, don't just give Crabtree what he wants

When Michael Crabtree fell to Niners with the 10th overall pick last spring I was one of those jubilant-as-fuck dudes yelling at my TV screen, visions of Crabtree running perfect routes through the porous secondaries of the Atlantic 10 Conferencc of the NFL NFC West teams.

Now a holdout is not new issue in the world of sports and I'm always for a dude trying to get his, especially when he is trying to get a relatively small piece of the York-Debartolo pie. But to cave in with contract talks just because we've been lousy would just be dumb and actually would be more consistent with the idiocy of the John York era. Here's why:

1. He was the 10th round pick and he's asking for top 5 money.
Oh so Mel Kiper says you're the bestest player in the draft? You have a song parody of Crank Dat? Nine professional football teams passed up on you dude, why should we pay you money that high? Almost everybody agrees that he's better than Heyward-Bey and at the very least should match his contract, but his roach of an agent obviously sees a) The salary-cap free 2010 and is trying to get his money too AND b) The Niners have been bitches in contract talks for AGES NOW. And if we haven't been bitches, we've been viewed as bitches. So no fuck that shit, you haven't even played a down in the league yet and the 49ers going down on their knees and sucking your cock would not only jeopardize what has been a really unsexy-but-solid offseason of resignings (Joe Staley is the first that comes to mind) but for future teams having to haggle with bitch ass agents because Crabtree's hype got paid.

2. He is coming off like a bitch.
Well, that's a little too harsh because I just see him as a guy who's listening to his "people" more than anything. But aside from the monetary issues, Crabtree is missing out on Training Camp right now. This means that he is missing out on practice and learning plays and drills (Which might be a good thing if you are David Baas and Kentwan Balmer but that's another blog post altogether).

The one thing I do like about Mike Singletary is that he is a coach that is not only a hard-ass but he balances it with being human. He concerns himself with character and team unity and isn't as judgemental about it as Nolan. Basically, the team feels like a team with an identity to forge. This hasn't happened since Mariucci's tenure. Singletary probably wouldn't condone this line of thought, but perception from Niner fans around me is that Crabtree isn't buying into what Sing and the rest of the 9ers are doing right now.

3. Yeah we suck, but a rookie WR isn't going to make that much of an impact
Wide receivers for the most part aren't running backs. You can't expect them to just fill into the roster right away and make a Matt Forte-like impact. It usually takes a couple years for them to acclimate to the NFL, with exceptions being dudes like Anquan Boldin. So what if Crabtree is one of the exceptions? See reason 1 and 2. And if so, we are a team predicated on running the ball right now. We also have Isaac Bruce (who is ancient but can still run routes and catch the ball), Josh Morgan (who made that wobbly-ass Shaun Hill bomb become a game-winning touchdown pass against the Rams) and a really solid depth of average recievers that are competent at their job. And let's face facts here, I love the shit out of both Shaun Hill and Alex Smith but I like them more as redemptive stories than as actual QBs right now and it's better to get time with dudes they're throwing to in training camp to gain valuable chemistry.

Crabtree, the ball is in your court buddy and we know you're phenomenal but you're going to be making top-10 money regardless and if you really believe your hype like everyone else is then sign the fucking contract -- maybe finagle your way into a 3-year contract so you can restructure faster -- and show your goddamn wares to this team already.