Angelo: "The byproduct of the holdout for the player is bad"

A case can be made that Michael Crabtree made $2 million for each of the first four games of the season he missed for the San Francisco 49ers.

The package the wide receiver received Wednesday when he finally ended an exhausting contract impasse with the organization was for $8 million more than the club had on the table. Now, Crabtree has to go about his business on the field and that’s the big question, what can he accomplish as a rookie? The 49ers received a roster exemption from the NFL for this week, and he’ll be able to make his debut Oct. 25 at Houston. The Bears travel to San Francisco shortly after that for a Nov. 12 game, which could be Crabtree’s fourth game in uniform.

Can he be productive by then in offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye’s conservative attack? Will the 10th pick in the draft be a difference maker.

Bears general manager Jerry Angelo had some strong feelings on the issue–rookie holdouts–in general. Of course, he went through one four seasons ago when running back Cedric Benson showed up 36 days late after a holdout that involved Eugene Parker, the same man who represents Crabtree.

“When you look at holdouts, the byproduct of the holdout for the player is bad,” Angelo said. “Everybody says it’s bad for the game and it’s bad for the team. It’s first bad for the player, then it’s bad for the team, then it’s bad for the game. I feel so strongly about it because in every situation that I have been involved (in) with a holdout, we had a bad result.”

Check out more of what Angelo had to say right here.