Rex Ryan while appearing on Mike and Mike in the morning laughed off allegations by the 49'ers that the Jets have been tampering with San Francisco's number one overall draft pick in 2009.
"We'll let the NFL figure that one out, I think it's ridiculous, personally."
Ryan went on to say that he wished the Jets were playing the 49'ers this season, the allegations that have been made against the Jets in the past, are obviously starting to annoy a few people. The Bronco's said that they were watching the Jets earlier this pre-season in regards to tampering with Brandon Marshall, and the Patriots also claimed that the Jets were tampering with Deion Branch in 2006.
First of all Jets fans, don't worry. Even if this is true, it's near impossible to prove. It's very possible that Eugene Parker, the Agent of Michael Crabtree went to the 49'ers and basically said that if you don't pay us, we have teams who are willing to. The 49'ers put two and two together and made five. The worst kept secret this off-season was the Jets looking for help at the receiver position.
The 49'ers are not in the driving seat here, they have until October the 20th to trade Michael Crabtree's rights, if they don't manage to do this then they have until November the 17th to sign him so that he can play this season, if they do not manage this then they would have until March to sign him for the 2010 season. If on the first say of the draft he is still un-signed then any team is free to draft him and the 49'ers will get no compensation.
It's interesting to note that the 49'ers themselves were found guilty of tampering with Chicago Bears linebacker Lance Briggs in 2007 and were forced to forfeit their fifth round selection in the 2008 draft. So if a team knows about tampering then it's the San Francisco 49'ers.
Edit- I have been looking for some confirmation on the exact dates for any Crabtree trade, and found that Froch was indeed correct. The 49'ers can not trade Crabtree's rights until March the fith, and if they have not signed him or traded him by the first day of the draft, then they forfeit the rights to his rights and he goes into the 2010 draft like everyone else.
I would be very surprised if anything came of this.