Oakland Raiders said to be retaining Michael Crabtree – unless they’re not

The Oakland Raiders are reported to be keeping wide receiver Michael Crabtree this season, but there still seems to be some intrigue and even doubt about it.

Let’s just put this out there – the Oakland Raiders, offensively speaking, have been a lot better with wideout Michael Crabtree lining up, than they have been without him.

Looking at the numbers over his three seasons in the East Bay, there just doesn’t seem to be much room to argue the point. And let’s face it, Derek Carr and Amari Cooper have both been better for Crabtree’s presence as well.

Yes, last season was a down year for Crabtree. It was a down year for the offense as a whole. Nobody on the offensive side of the ball was exactly lighting it up with any sort of consistency in 2017.

But, from a personal standpoint, Crabtree had one of the least effective years of his career. Aside from 2013, when he played just five games for San Francisco, Crabtree’s 618 receiving yards were a career low. His 58 receptions were the third-lowest of his career, just behind his rookie (2009) and sophomore (2010) campaigns.

Further, Crabtree’s average of 10.7 yards per catch were the second-lowest of his career, his 57.4 catch percentage was the second-lowest, and his average of 44.1 yards per game was the lowest of his career.

He did haul in eight touchdowns though, and made a number of big catches for this team last season.

More from Golden Gate Sports

• Raiders: Rookie stock report following Week 3 performance
• 49ers sign new long snapper amidst a flurry of roster moves
• Oakland Athletics win Game 2 of Wild Card round with late-inning drama
• 49ers: George Kittle and Deebo Samuel cleared to return to practice
• 49ers expected to place DE Dee Ford on injured reserve

However, there were also the drops, the fights with Broncos corner Aqib Talib that led to a suspension, and whispers about him being a bad citizen the locker room. Some said that when things are going well, he’s a great teammate, but when faced with adversity, he becomes a cancer – maybe, not so coincidentally, some of the same things we heard at the end of his tenure with the San Francisco 49ers.

The fact that Crabtree played just a handful of offensive snaps in the season’s final couple of games led to rumors, and then reports, that the Raiders would be parting ways with the fiery receiver this offseason.

And given his precipitous drop in production, the trouble in the locker room he’s said to have caused, as well as the $8 million dollars in cap space he represents, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that Crabtree would, in fact, be gone.

But, with Jon Gruden and an entirely new coaching regime in place, those whispers and rumors began to shift in the other direction, culminating in a recent report by The Athletic’s Vic Tafur, that Crabtree would be retained.

And everybody rejoiced.

The fact of the matter is that Cooper and Crabtree give Carr a fantastic pair of weapons to work with. Cooper is the flashing, dazzling speedster, while Crabtree is the solid, reliable possession receiver (think Tim Brown) this offense desperately needs.

Next: Veteran Corner's Valuation May Be A Bit Overstated

Yeah, they both have an issue with drops, but that’s hopefully something Gruden and company will be able to get under control.

Despite an underwhelming 2017 season, over his three seasons with Oakland, Crabtree has amassed 232 receptions for 2,543 yards, and 25 touchdowns – in six seasons with the 49ers, he had a total of 26 touchdowns. And, he’s had no season with Oakland where he’s had fewer than eight touchdown grabs.

Crabtree has been a solid security blanket for Carr and has come up with some big-time, clutch catches for the Raiders.

So yes, keeping Crabtree on for another season would most definitely be the right call. Especially if Cooper can get his own issues and struggles worked out. It would give Carr that highly potent one-two punch this Raiders offense lacked last season.

Keeping Crabtree on is also the right call for another, simpler reason – money. With a pretty thin free agent market, the best names out there – Jarvis Landry, Sammy Watkins, Allen Robinson – are going to cost the Raiders quite a bit more than they’re paying Crabtree this season. And in the case of Landry, it would cost them valuable capital in the form of draft picks to obtain him.

After a very down year, if Gruden, OC Greg Olson, and their staff can get the offense back on track, there seems little doubt that Crabtree – and Cooper – will once again lead one of the most potent passing games in the league.

But – and, there’s always a but, isn’t there? – as we should have learned with the case Josh McDaniels and the Indianapolis Colts head coaching gig, nothing is done and final until all of the T’s have been crossed and the I’s dotted.

Which means, until the announcement is made that Crabtree will, in fact, be returning for 2018, we shouldn’t take it as gospel that it’s happening – despite whatever reports are floating around out there.

In fact, given the chance to confirm Crabtree’s status with the team while speaking at the Scouting Combine, Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie made like Marquette King and punted – and punted it a country mile.

Said McKenzie:

"“You want Marshawn to go away. Y’all are getting rid of Crabtree, getting rid of Bruce. You’re running everybody out of town. We’ll just have Derek Carr and a few linemen. Y’all getting rid of everybody. We want to keep our good players, put a winning product on the field.We did not finish well and things did not go well. We can point fingers at a lot of those type situations, but we’re not going to dwell on what happened last year. We’re going to press forward and get the most out of the guys we got and get it working.”"

Now, we know that when it comes to matters of talking contract specifics, McKenzie his notoriously tight-lipped. He always plays his cards close to the vest. But, Crabtree is under contract for two more years – he won’t be a free agent again until 2020, when he’s 31-years old.

Related Story: Raiders May Do Something Unexpected In First Round

So, it’s not like there’s a contract negotiation with Crabtree in the works. Unless, there is.

This is pure speculation, of course, but it’s possible that McKenzie is trying to get Crabtree to either restructure his contract or take a pay cut to remain with the team. It’s also possible that Crabtree’s status with the team depends upon him doing one of those two things – remember, they can cut him and incur zero dead money against the cap.

Given that there are no contract negotiations with Crabtree – that we’re aware of – McKenzie and the Raiders gain little by not confirming something Carr (and presumably other teammates) all want. And that’s for Crabtree to keep on wearing the Silver and Black.

So, although it’s being reported that Crabtree is indeed returning, in this era of #FakeNews – and of course, the Josh McDaniels pull out method – nothing is certain until it’s certain. And as of right now, we have no absolute certainty.

Bringing Crabtree back would be smart. It would be the right move. Now, we’ll just have to wait and see, if it actually comes to pass.