Tampering Update / Programming Note
When Michael Crabtree finally agreed to sign his contract with the 49ers this week, many Jets fans perhaps breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that this would have put paid to the tampering allegations made against the Jets by the 49ers in September. Unfortunately, this is not necessarily the case.
I investigate in detail after the jump…
All kinds of conspiracy theories have been proposed in recent times, most of them from PFW and many of them seem baseless. These include:
- Crabtree’s deal being effectively the same as what he would have had all along, but with an extra year added to “save face” even though it will probably never be paid.
- Either Mike Tannenbaum or Deion Sanders felt they might be in trouble because of evidence leaking out about the tampering case and therefore “urged” Eugene Parker to get the deal done
- The timing of the deal (on the same day as the Braylon Edwards trade) might indicate some collusion between parties as the Jets look to distance themselves from Crabtree
- Deion could be receiving money from Parker for mentoring players and then suggesting he would be an appropriate agent for them, which would represent a conflict of interest considering he is an NFL employee
I think Crabtree has certainly signed a face-saving deal, much like Andre Smith did. His contract doesn’t look any better than Darius Heyward-Bey’s (which is what he was holding out for), but the timing of the deal might be more to do with the fact that Crabtree is running out of options. Mel Kiper seems to be the only person left who thinks that Crabtree could be the first WR selected if he re-entered a draft where there are likely to be a ton of underclassmen and Crabtree will be 15 months removed from his last game, won’t have been able to work out for teams and will not have attended the combine. If he wasn’t then no team would be likely to be able to give him a better-than-DHB deal and still fit it under the rookie allocation. Crabtree appears to have just lost (or, at best, tied) a high-stakes game of chicken.
As for Tannenbaum and Sanders being nervous, I think Sanders is the more likely of the two to be worried right now. Although Tannenbaum might have good reason to be worried too, I don’t think he had as much to gain from the deal being done. The NFL has already confirmed it will proceed with the investigation and the fact that Crabtree did sign should have no bearing on the outcome. The 49ers themselves were charged (a 5th and a swap of third rounders) in the Lance Briggs case, despite the fact that Briggs re-signed with the Bears and the 49ers made no effort to sign him when he hit free agency (and were switching to a 3-4 scheme in which Briggs would have been a poor fit). However, maybe the punishment would have been higher if Briggs left the Bears. The NFL has made it clear that the Crabtree allegations are more serious because they threaten the entire draft system, which is the central cog in the NFL’s attempts to ensure parity.
So, where does this leave us? Well, these moves haven’t managed to get anyone off the hook yet. Deion will plead his case LIVE ON NFL NETWORK TODAY AT 9AM – I.E. NOW – IN AN INTERVIEW WITH JASON LA CANFORA, where some fear he may attempt to throw the Jets under the bus in order to save his own skin. He will also be addressing the suspension of WR Dez Bryant, which he was also involved in (and who, ironically, was the one WR even Mel Kiper thought could be drafted ahead of Crabtree next year).
The 49ers clearly think they still have a case, because their owner has said that evidence clearly exists that the Jets talked to Crabtree, although if that evidence emanates from Sanders comment that two teams told Crabtree they’d be willing to pay him $40m and he knows it, then I ask again – why have the 49ers maintained all along that the Jets are the only team they believe have been guilty of tampering? Either Deion’s comment is completely untrue (which could be the case, since I still can’t figure out how the Jets would have been able to sign Crabtree to a contract of that size) or the 49ers are letting someone off the hook, which doesn’t seem to add up either. The league sent round a memo warning teams not to make frivilous tampering claims in May, but surely targeting one team for tampering only to ignore another team alleged to have done the same thing is just as serious.
Charles Robinson and Matt Maiocco (see article and comments) both reported how severe this could be, with a potential 10th pick in the draft level penalty, which would equate to more than the Jets’ entire remaining 2010 draft picks, assuming they pick in the second half of the first round. However, PFT reported that several sources felt there was insufficient evidence to charge the Jets and there is always the possibility (albeit no guarantee) that the league would be more lenient with the level of the penalty since the 49ers ultimately got their man.
In conclusion, nothing is resolved yet, but it will be interesting to see the fall-out from Deion’s comments. The Jets are definitely not off the hook, but it is encouraging that the PFT source said they don’t believe there is enough evidence to punish the Jets. If the severest punishment does come to fruition, the 49ers will control next year’s draft, since they have the Panthers’ first round pick as well as their own.
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what if deion says the Jets indeed talked to crabtree? so what? how the heck can he prove it?
True…although as an NFL employee, perhaps his word is enough?
I think we’re entering unchartered waters here so I don’t have a definitive answer for you.
Well written Bent. It’s tough to know what was and what was not done with Crabtree. I’m still amazed at how much credibility that site has built since so much of what they write is just baseless rumors, but they really opened a can here. The big wildcard is Deion. Deion opens his mouth way too much and has caused trouble for teams in the past since he seems to be many players “spiritual/financial” adviser. My guess is he can get himself and Eugene Parker in alot of trouble if it turns out that he is using his position with the NFL to try to get clients to sign and to get leverage in negotiations.
Personally I think he is talking out of the side of his mouth with this one because there is no reason for the Jets to ever think they could get Crabtree. I still think any Jets involvement would have come on draft day when the Jets were considering moving up for a WR after they snagged Sanchez. The way Crabtree fell Im sure at some point the Jets said if they could move up for him they would and they would pay him a higher slot the way they did Revis. If you make an agent know that before or during the draft he’ll begin to make it known he will be a headache to sign to try to scare teams off. It happens in all sports. It is basically how Kobe Bryant maneuvered his way into LA. There is no logical reason for the Jets to get on the phone in late August and say we will pay him 40 million since it couldnt happen.
Right. I don’t believe the Jets were serious about him (or Brandon Marshall or Deion Branch in the two examples of the Jets avoiding tampering charges in the past – note: The Broncos didn’t make a formal allegation and some sources say there was proof in the Branch case, but the NFL turned a blind eye to it.) I think Tannenbaum makes a habit of finding out the lay of the land to see whether he can capitalize on a potential bargain – which none of those three players were.
I don’t doubt that he spoke to Parker, but I think Deion may have been blowing smoke when he inferred that the Jets had said they were willing to pay Crabtree that kind of money.
Did anyone see the interview?
Bent- I saw parts of it but I didn’t hear him mention the Jets at all. He did say he knew of two teams who told the 49ers they wanted to trade for Crabtree, and then the 49ers told Parker who told Deion. It sounds like that was before the deadline passed for them to trade him or something like that.
But hey at least we’re not the Browns- apparently their rookie running back got injured when he was running a drill without pads and was hit by a LB with pads. Now the NFLPA might file a grievance on the RB’s behalf.
So what is the best/worst case scenario for next years draft…lito sheppard will cost a 2nd or 4th…braylon edwards will cost a 2nd or 3rd and a 5th…kevin O’Donnell will cost a 6th or 7th and crabtree could cost a 1st AND 2nd….scary…atleast the jets won’t draft another bust(like they always do) if they don’t have any picks
if braylon is a 2nd he’ll have had a monster year and would therefore be well worth it. Sheppard is never going to meet the conditions for a third. Without playing, it’s hard to see how o’connell could meet any conditions too. I think, as long as they avoid a charge here, you’ll be looking at 1 2 5 6 plus any more picks they trade for.
Mel – sounds like he’s covering his back, which is good news, although he may reveal more under further scrutiny.
It still doesn’t add up because the jets had literally no cap space on their rookie allocation to add crabtree in 2009.
I can’t see the jets eating a charge for tampering with a guy they couldn’t possibly sign!
Not to mention that Edwards Washington Mangold Harris and Revis all hit free agency net year…if they don’t resign them and don’t have their picks it would be a doomsday scenario and would really expose tannenbaum…he’s no parcelles peoli reese or newsome
so the jets will go into the draft…best case scenario with a 1st 2nd and 6th… it seems to me that the jets are looking like more like the new york redskins than the new york giants…why cant they learn how to properly build a team…thru the draft
Yeah! The Jets need to change what they’re doing and build through the draft! Look how few of their starters are their own draft picks. I mean, aside from Sanchez, Washington, Moore, Mangold, Ferguson, Keller, Cotchery, Ellis, Harris, Thomas, Revis, Rhodes…
Yeah, and guys like Gholston, Lowery, Coleman, B. Smith, E. Smith, Stuckey, Westerman and DeVito all made major contributions to the Jets 3-1 start. Oh, and Wallace Wright and Trusnick were special teams demons. The idea that the Jets have not built the team through the draft and that the draft is the only way to build a Super Bowl team is false. Super Bowl teams like the 2000 Ravens and 2001 Pats had nearly 1/2 their squads filled with free agents or other non-drafted players.
Lol @ Ghost and B. Smith…2 bums can the jets dump these loosers already…DeVito Westerman Wright and Trusnick wernt drafted by the jets…and the ravens were built thru the draft and we dont have half the talent that they did…im just saying the jets are very similar to the Mets or the Redskins
See the latest link on the Jets News Feed regarding Deion and tampering.
He states he has nothing on Crabtree and the Jets and has not been formally interviewed by the NFL.
Hopefully this is true. It could also just be Deion making things up to save his hide (and contacts).
The truth, Deion Sanders said, is that he has no knowledge of any tampering by the New York Jets in the San Francisco 49ers’ negotiations with the wide receiver, drafted 10th overall in the 2009 draft.
GJG,
Undrafted free agents are critically important in today’s NFL with only 7 rounds in the draft. Not counting UDFAs as part of homegrown Jets is just silly. Plus, the 2000 Ravens had: Sharpe, Dilfer, Ismail, Adams, McCrary, Woodson, Siragusa as key starters. Built through the draft? Their entire DL was all made up of free agents. The Jets have been built through the draft, key free agent acquisitions and great UDFA signings. The draft’s just 1 way out of 5 to get players and the Jets have been great at acquiring players by the draft, trade, free agency, UDFA signings and practice squad signings.