Clausen lands in Carolina

Football Betting Lines

04/23/2010 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jimmy Clausen waited longer than anticipated to hear his name announced during the 2010 NFL Draft, as the Notre Dame quarterback was taken with the 48th overall pick by the Carolina Panthers.

The Panthers, who did not pick in the first round, waived longtime signal- caller Jake Delhomme in March after he guided the club to a disastrous 8-8 campaign last season.

Clausen opted to leave school a year early after tossing 28 touchdowns with just four interceptions last season for the disappointing Fighting Irish.

The selection was the 16th in the second round of the NFL's 75th annual draft, which kicked off for the first time in primetime on Thursday with the Rams taking Oklahoma quarterback and 2008 Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford as the first overall pick.

The second round commenced Friday with St. Louis selecting what it hopes will be a stalwart in protecting its newest commodity in Rodger Saffold, a 6- foot-4, 316-pound offensive tackle from Indiana.

The Vikings were next on the clock, and they added depth to a wounded defensive backfield with the addition of Virginia cornerback Chris Cook.

Minnesota acquired the 34th overall selection, along with the 100th and 214th overall picks from Detroit in exchange for the 30th overall pick, which was California running back Jahvid Best, and the 128th overall pick.

Brian Price, a defensive tackle out of UCLA, was taken next by Tampa Bay. The 2009 Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year will team with Gerald McCoy -- the No. 3 overall pick and another vaunted defensive tackle out of Oklahoma -- to anchor a Buccanneers defense that allowed the sixth most yards in the league last season.

The Kansas City Chiefs took Ole Miss running back Dexter McCluster with the 36th overall pick. McCluster finished No. 2 on the Rebels' career all-purpose yardage list with 4,089 yards.

The Philadelphia Eagles, who obtained the 37th pick from Washington via a trade involving quarterback Donovan McNabb earlier this month, opted for South Florida safety Nate Allen, who finished his collegiate career with 226 career tackles.

Oregon safety T.J. Ward was next off the board when Cleveland chose him to patrol the secondary alongside Florida safety Joe Haden, who was the Browns' first-round choice.

Tampa Bay acquired the next pick from Oakland and took Illinois wide receiver Arrelious Benn.

Miami followed with linebacker Koa Misi, who finished his three-year career at Utah with 206 total tackles, 26.0 TFLs and 10.5 sacks. With the ninth pick in the second round, the Bills landed Torell Troup, a 6-foot-3, 314-pound defensive tackle from UCF.

Arizona tight end Rob Gronkowski then went to New England. The 6-foot-6, 264- pound receiving threat recorded 47 receptions for 672 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2008 but missed the 2009 campaign after going through back surgery.

Sergio Kindle, whose stock faded recently due to injury concerns, was taken next by the Baltimore Ravens. The Texas product became first ever player to be named a finalist for the Butkus (nation's top linebacker) and Hendricks Awards (nation's top defensive end) as a senior in 2009.

Another Longhorn fell by the wayside with the following pick, as the Oakland Raiders took Lamarr Houston, who had seven sacks last season for the Big 12 champions.

With the 45th overall pick, Denver got some extra protection for its quarterback carousel in Utah's Zane Beadles, a 6-foot-4, 310-pound guard that could also play tackle.

The Giants followed with East Carolina defensive tackle Linval Joseph, and the Arizona Cardinals traded up to acquire TCU linebacker Daryl Washington with the 47th overall pick.

After the second and third rounds are held on Friday, the remainder of the draft will occur on Saturday, beginning at 10:00 a.m. (et).

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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.

NFL Betting Lines

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