Dolphins sign ex-Saints DE Grant

Football Betting Lines

07/30/2010 - Davie, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Dolphins have signed defensive end Charles Grant.

Terms of the deal were not released, but the Palm Beach Post reported Wednesday that the contract is for two years and is worth $4.5 million.

Grant was released by the Saints following their Super Bowl run. The 31-year- old veteran posted 5 1/2 sacks last season before suffering a triceps injury in Week 17.

In eight seasons (118 games) with New Orleans, the 6-foot-3, 285-pounder recorded 336 tackles, 47 sacks, and one interception.

Grant was originally selected with the 25th overall pick by the Saints in the 2002 draft.

Also on Friday, the team released guards Ray Feinga and Dimitri Tsoumpas and announced the official signings of draft picks Jared Odrick and Koa Misi.

Odrick, a defensive end from Penn State, was selected in the first round of April's draft. Misi, a linebacker out of Utah, was a second-round pick.

Vookmaker Football Betting News


<< Youzhny ousted in Gstaad quarters
Gstaad, Switzerland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top seed Mikhail Youzhny was a quarterfinal upset victim Friday at the Swiss Open Gstaad. Qualifier Yuri Schukin upended his world No. 14 fellow Russian Youzhny 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 in 2 hours, 12

<< Revs searching for league success against Union
Chester, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New England has won four straight games without allowing a goal, but just one of those matches was in Major League Soccer. The Revolution hope to build on their SuperLiga success in league play Saturday at PPL Par

<< AL Central: Twins putting the heat on Chicago
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins continue to prove that it takes more than high-profile personnel moves to compete for a postseason berth. While the Detroit Tigers inked Johnny Damon and Jose Valverde in the offseason, Minnesota stayed

<< Niners ink draft picks Davis, Mays, Bowman
Santa Clara, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Francisco 49ers have signed three of their first four picks from April's draft, including first-rounder Anthony Davis. In addition to a five-year deal for Davis, an offensive tackle from Rutger

<< K.C. hopes to build on win vs. Man United in league play vs. TFC
Kansas City, KS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It has been a disappointing season to so for the Kansas City Wizards, but the Major League Soccer club is hoping it can use a 2-1 win in an exhibition against English premier League side Manchester United

Packers ink first-round pick Bulaga >>
Green Bay, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Green Bay Packers have signed first-round draft pick Bryan Bulaga. The Green Bay Press Gazette is reporting that the offensive lineman has signed a five-year deal worth $14.75 million, with $8.76 million

White Sox pick up Jackson from Arizona >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago White Sox have acquired pitcher Edwin Jackson from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for pitchers Dan Hudson and David Holmberg. Jackson was in his first year with Arizona after being

Oswalt a deflection, not redemption, for Amaro >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - When Roy Oswalt puts on his Phillies uniform for the first time, he might have to check to make sure it is his name on the back of the jersey rather than what everyone in Philadelphia will be calling him for

Playoff or pay-off? MEAC decision a 'win-win' >>
Norfolk, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There's a difficult decision ahead for Mid- Eastern Athletic Conference football, and there may not be a right or wrong answer considering both of the given options have merit. "A win-win situation," according

Celtic signs McCourt to new three-year contract >>
Glasgow, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Northern Ireland winger Paddy McCourt signed a new three-year contract with Celtic on Friday. McCourt, 26, had one year left on his current deal. He joined Celtic in 2008, and has three goals in 19 a

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

To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.

Matt Kenseth And Kevin Harvick Favorites To Take NASCAR Nextel Cup Championship

(September 15)—The NASCAR season has hit the homestretch with the opening event on this year’s Chase for the Cup taking place this weekend at the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway. With 10 races remaining to determine the Cup Series champion, leading online sportsbook MySportsbook.com today announced odds on all 10 Chase qualifying drivers capturing the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship.

One of the largest sportsbook sites on the Internet, MySportsbook.com currently lists the top two drivers in the point standings as the early favorites to win the Nextel Cup. Entering the Chase for the Cup with a slim five-point lead in the point standings, 2003 NASCAR champ Matt Kenseth has been made a slight favorite to win his second Cup at 7/2 betting odds. 2001 Cup Rookie of the Year Kevin Harvick has betting odds listed at 5/2 and four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon is listed at 6/1 to capture the Nextel Cup this year.

Hoping to follow in the footsteps of his legendary father who won six NASCAR titles, Dale Earnhardt Jr. stands at 8/1 to breakthrough with his first Cup victory. Staying with the family theme, MySportsbook.com lists 2005 Rookie of the Year Kyle Busch at 14/1 to succeed big brother Kurt’s 2004 NASCAR title. While Kasey Kahne was the final driver to qualify for the Chase with a third place finish last week, the oddsmakers give him a fighting chance at 10/1 mainly due to several mile-and-a-half tracks remaining on the schedule. Despite going winless on the NASCAR circuit this season, Jeff Burton enters the Chase at 5/1 to capture the Cup title. Meanwhile, rookie Denny Hamlin is 4/1 to win the championship, while veteran driver Mark Martin enters the Chase for the Cup as a 15/1 long shot to win his first NASCAR title in his 24th and final season.

MySportsbook.com will offer comprehensive Nascar betting lines on every race remaining on the Nextel Cup series including driver match-ups, props and odds to win each race. For a complete list of NASCAR odds, please visit www.MySportsbook.com.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts US credit cards needs.