Other than Marshawn Lynch, no player on the Raiders’ roster has been a hotter topic of late than Michael Crabtree.
Is he staying or is he going?
It’s apparently complicated.
There seems to have been a number of conflicting reports on what the Raiders want to do with Crabtree and some of that may be because the team still doesn’t know how things will play out.
It has been rumored that Crabtree will be asked to take a pay cut, but given the recent contracts signed by Allen Robinson and Sammy Watkins, the Raiders should maybe consider Crabtree’s $7.68 million cap number a bargain.
According to reports, Watkins and Robinson will both be getting around $15 million per season and neither have shown the consistency of Crabtree.
Crabtree is older, but 30 isn’t a death sentence for an NFL receiver and Crabtree’s lack of production last year seemed to have less to do with his physical abilities and more to do with his attitude.
Maybe Crabtree has been a problem in the locker room, but if he can get back to where he was a year ago, it feels like the Raiders are getting good value with his salary.
Despite a down year in 2017, Crabtree has been the most consistent Raiders receiver since he arrived in Oakland three years ago. Until this season, Crabtree has been Derek Carr’s most trusted receiver and has always seemed to have better chemistry than Amari Cooper with Carr.
If Jon Gruden can get his mind back in the right place, Crabtree’s return seems like an easy decision from a financial standpoint – especially if there aren’t any better options available.
twitter: @raidersbeat
Suprise, suprise! Crabtree isn’t going anywhere!
I’ve been calling Crabs a huge bargain all along, engaged in some of the most ridiculous arguments with some of the most clueless idiots I’ve ever encountered ever since these ludicrous rumours first began to circulate. I predicted a week ago that Robinson (ostensibly a “target” of the Raiders) would fetch &15 million in free agency and that’s precisely what both he and Watkins ended up getting! What good is $7 million in cap room when it doesn’t buy you anywhere near the quality of receiver that Crabtree has been for the Oakland Raiders? Crabs is easily the single most underrated #1 receiver in the league! He consistently makes acrobatic clutch catches and game winning TD and 2-pt conversion grabs on virtually impossible fade patterns while fighting off blanket coverage! He’s also developed excellent chemistry with QB Derek Carr as his “go-to” guy.
If the Raiders thought for even a moment that they could replace Crabtree with his $7 million insane bargain salary, they were either delusional or sampling psychotropic substances! Even Donte Montcreif will command well over the 7 that Crabs is getting and he’s not fit to carry MC’s duffle!