Pro Bowl safety John Lynch retires
Football Betting Lines
11/17/2008 - Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pro Bowl safety John Lynch announced his retirement at a news conference Monday afternoon.
Lynch was selected to nine Pro Bowls at the safety position during his 15-year career with Tampa Bay and Denver. That's the second-most at the position in league history, trailing only Pro Football Hall of Famer Ken Houston (10).
"Although I made sure to recognize both organizations, there's a reason I'm back here," Lynch said on his reasons for making the announcement in Florida. "I'm proud to be a part of this organization and proud of the way I played."
A third-round draft pick by the Buccaneers in 1993, Lynch was a key member of Tampa Bay's defense, helping the 2002 team to a Super Bowl championship. He earned a reputation as one of the league's hardest-hitting safeties during his tenure with the Bucs and was a centerpiece of Tampa's "Cover Two" defensive scheme.
After playing his first 11 NFL seasons with the Bucs, Lynch joined the Broncos in 2004. He played the last four seasons with Denver, earning Pro Bowl berths each year.
Earlier this year, however, the Broncos parted ways with the 37-year-old Lynch because he was in line to see a reduction in playing time due to the emergence of Marlon McCree.
"I knew in my heart I was done," Lynch admitted. "I wanted to keep going out there just in case my options changed. When I made my decision, I wanted it to be final, and it is."
The Stanford product signed with New England in August but was released before the start of the regular season. He will retire with 26 interceptions, 13 sacks and 1,277 tackles in 224 regular season games.
"I always went out there with the same passion and belief," he added. "I don't know what the future holds, but I will go forward in the same way I did on the field."
Lynch also revealed that his first post-retirement assignment will be for FOX Sports this Sunday.
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FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million
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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