The San Francisco 49ers are considering modifying their contract
offer to Michael Crabtree, but it’s not the kind of adjustment the
first-round draft pick and his agent were hoping for.
SANTA CLARA
The San Francisco 49ers are considering modifying their contract offer to Michael Crabtree, but it’s not the kind of adjustment the first-round draft pick and his agent were hoping for.
Instead of a contract that exceeds No. 7 pick Darrius Heyward-Bey’s deal – which is what Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker have been shooting for – the new deal would subtract money for every game he misses. Crabtree already has forfeited one game check, but that amount pales in comparison to the guaranteed money – believed to be around $16 million – the 49ers initially offered. Presumably, it’s that total that would be diminished.
Coach Mike Singletary on Monday acknowledged that the 49ers were contemplating such a move. But he said he wasn’t sure if Crabtree has been notified.
“I don’t know if the letter’s actually been sent,” Singletary said. “I know we talked about it. But at this point, the whole Michael Crabtree thing, you know what I’m going to say: It’s over there. I’m going to focus over here. We have our hands full with the 53 (players) that we have.”
If the Crabtree camp was calculating that the 49ers’ passing game would struggle without him Sunday in Arizona, he might have been disappointed.
Quarterback Shaun Hill and his receivers certainly weren’t prolific, but they were efficient when they needed to be, especially on a game-winning, 80-yard drive in the fourth quarter. Hill hit four different receivers on that drive and seemed to have a particularly good rapport with wideout Isaac Bruce, who caught three passes on the drive, and tight end Vernon Davis, who caught four.
The 49ers’ problem was that they didn’t throw enough.
The Arizona defense entered the game determined to stop Frank Gore and the running game, and they accomplished that goal. The 49ers finished with 21 rushing yards, the lowest total in franchise history for a game they won.
Said left guard David Baas: “Arizona brought half their team in blitzes, every run.”
One way to make defenses pay for being aggressive against the run is to counter with the pass. Singletary acknowledged the 49ers have to do a better job of mixing those components.
“It’s a chess game, a cat-and-mouse game, however you want to look at it,” Singletary said. “If they are going to put eight (defenders) in the box that means that they can’t cover as well outside. So we just have to play that game. Coach (offensive coordinator Jimmy) Raye was getting in the flow and doing the things that we needed to do, but being on the road, I think we just kind of wanted to stay with what we had and just be patient.”
Still, Singletary said that doesn’t mean the 49ers will change their style, and he said it doesn’t give the offensive line an excuse for being outmuscled by the Cardinals’ defense. Singletary has said for months the 49ers will be a team that can run the ball when it wants to, and he’s not backing down from that promise.
“We did not play well and we got our tails kicked, I will say that, but we will get better,” he said. “Our offensive line, at some point in time this year, will be one of the better offensive lines in the league but in this game, they did not play well.”
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Story by Matthew Barrows.
