Manning, Harrison, Washington selected for AFC weekly honors

Football Betting Lines

11/19/2008 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison and New York Jets return specialist Leon Washington have been selected as the AFC's top players for Week 11 of the NFL season.

Manning earned the offensive honor for the second time this season and for the 18th time in his career after completing 30-of-46 passes for 320 yards with two touchdowns in a 33-27 victory over Houston. He amassed 300 yards for the 45th time in his illustrious career and surpassed Fran Tarkenton for seventh on the all-time completions list.

Harrison garnered the defensive award for the second time in his career after two plays led directly to scores in Pittsburgh's 11-10 win over San Diego. His sack on Philip Rivers resulted in a safety and an interception led to a field goal.

Washington picked up the special teams honor for the first time thanks to a kickoff return for a touchdown in the Jets' 34-31 overtime win against New England. His 92-yard touchdown was the fourth kick return TD of his career, surpassing Justin Miller for the club record.

Other nominees for the offensive award included Colts running back Joseph Addai, who notched a season-high 153 yards from scrimmage with two touchdowns against the Texans; Jets quarterback Brett Favre, who threw for 258 yards with a pair of touchdowns against New England; and Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel, who threw for a career-high 400 yards with three touchdowns and ran for 62 yards to become the first quarterback in NFL history with more than 400 passing yards and 60 rushing yards in the same game.

Defensive consideration went to Jets linebacker Eric Barton, who had 17 tackles and one forced fumble against the Patriots, and New England rookie linebacker Jerod Mayo, who registered a career-high 20 tackles.

Cleveland kicker Phil Dawson was nominated for the special teams award after he connected on all five field goal attempts, including a 56-yard boot in a 29-27 win over Buffalo.

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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.

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