Miami Dolphins best spot for Michael Crabtree?

The Miami Dolphins have two very talented young receivers in Jarvis Landry and Kenny Stills, but they really need to add some depth to their wide receiver corps, preferably by adding a veteran who can move the chains as a No. 3 guy. It’s why nobody was surprised to see them show interest in Michael Crabtree, who is the best wideout remaining on the open market after turning down many offers in the hopes of landing a starting gig.

According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, the Dolphins offered Crabtree as a one-year deal worth $3 million, but the former San Francisco 49ers No. 1 guy rejected the offer in the hopes of landing a $4.5 million deal. The Dolphins will undoubtedly balk at that exorbitant asking price, as Crabtree’s poor 2014 season and attitude concerns have driven his price and market down into the peanut, prove-it territory.

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Crabtree has a visit with the Oakland Raiders set this week, and it will be interesting to see how that goes. While the Raiders could use a WR like Crabtree, it’s best for them to go after young, playmaking options to surround Derek Carr with in the draft. They already have a de facto possession guy in James Jones, so while Crabtree would help, the Raiders are best off going for higher upside receivers.

Since the Raiders would have to pay more than the Dolphins in order to land Crabtree, who is clearly looking to maximize his market despite the fact that he’s technically been left on the “scrap heap”, we can only hope that they won’t meet the wideout’s $4.5 million demands. While the Raiders have the money, they are, again, better off using the draft as a way of building their wide receiver talent.

At this point, the Dolphins have to be Crabtree’s best option, because all he should be doing is looking to rebuild his value after a poor 2014 season. He was one of the league’s best receivers in 2012 and played well in 2013 after coming back from a major injury, so it’s clear that the former first-round pick has the ability to have a big bounce-back season.

But what he needs to do is put himself in the best position to succeed in 2015, because he can’t afford to have a prove-it year similar to Hakeem Nicks‘s (in other words, he can’t suck, or he’ll find himself with zero interest next offseason after being cold shouldered by the market this offseason).

The Dolphins have a quarterback who established himself as a franchise guy in Ryan Tannehill, they are a playoff contender, and they have two wideouts in Stills and Landry who can take the pressure off of him. While he would be higher in the pecking order in Oakland, the Dolphins would probably give him more opportunities even as the No. 4 guy (can’t forget about new TE Jordan Cameron), because he would have more talent around him to ease the pressure off of him.

Of course, we can’t help but feel that Crabtree’s main goal is to be the No. 1 guy in an offense, because it seems like he burned that bridge with the 49ers after they took away his targets last season. It appears that Crabtree is interested in achieving as high of a spot as he can on a team’s pecking order, which is a completely unrealistic goal given that he’s spent nearly a month on the open market. Teams don’t want him, teams don’t trust him as anything more than a No. 3 receiver, and I think he needs to take a friendly situation.

If the Raiders offer him $4.5 million or even $4 million, then they would probably be his best option, especially since he’d have a fighting chance at being the No. 2 guy behind a rookie like Kevin White or Amari Cooper. But if the Raiders wise up and decide to give him a deal comparable to the one the Miami Dolphins handed to him ($3 million), then Crabtree would be unwise to reject their offer.

Nov 23, 2014; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree (15) carries the ball during warm ups before the game against the Washington Redskins at Levi

Look, the Dolphins present Michael Crabtree with the best fit on paper, because you have to remember how he would slot in during three-wide sets. The Dolphins could play Still as the “X”, Landry in the slot, Cameron at TE, and Crabtree as the “Z”.

It’s a perfect alignment for Crabtree, because he can focus on using his route-running chops to get open on intermediate routes in a lower pressure environment with enough playmakers around him to ensure that he can earn some targets when on the field.

He used to consistently average a respectable 12 or 13 yards per reception before plummeting down to 10.3 YPR last year, and the Dolphins would give him a better chance at hitting that 12.0 threshold.

With how badly his market has crashed, it’s hard to see him getting a better deal, even if the Dolphins didn’t quite offer him an even $3 million.

It sucks, but Crabtree isn’t going to get paid, unless if the Raiders impatiently throw money at him. Since that’s always a possibility, Crabtree is definitely wise for waiting on Oakland before coming to a decision, but it’s hard to see the Raiders trumping the Dolphins as a better fit on paper (the “paper”- as in money- is a different issue, of course).

Next: So...should the Dolphins sign him?

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