Beware of Crabtree

After overhauling their wide receiving unit, it appears that the Dolphins are still not done with adding some veteran leadership to the group. They are currently meeting with San Francisco wide receiver Michael Crabtree.

Obviously the Phins want to add a veteran, however, I will bluntly say that I do not think this is the correct veteran to add. I loved him in college when he played at Texas Tech and he was an absolute beast, however, his 6 years in the league have been one big tease. He has tremendous talent, but he is also known as a diva type receiver that can be an attitude problem as well. Also, don’t forget this was the same player that did not initially sign his rookie contract and went as far as sitting out the first 5 games of his rookie season because he felt he deserved more money. These reasons alone would scare me off from having him enter my locker room. We just got rid of our former diva in Mike Wallace, and most pay per head review sites would say it is a bad idea to replace him with another similar character.

Last season Crabtree played in all 16 games and finished with 68 catches for 698 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 10.3 yards per catch average. These are not terrible numbers but they are also not the kind of numbers that make you feel like you need to sign a player that can turn into a potential locker room problem. Last season he did not have a game where he had more than 85 yards receiving. In his 6 seasons in the league, he only had one season (2012) where he eclipsed the 1,000-yard receiving mark (1,105) and that was also the year he caught the most touchdowns in his career (9). Sure it is nice to dream and hope that he can give Miami that type of production again, however, he injured his Achilles in 2013 and has not been able to get back to that highly productive form since, so there is no guarantee that better days are ahead of this receiver.

Yes, Miami needs and should add one veteran wide receiver, however, there are two other veterans available that I would much rather sign; Dwayne Bowe and Greg Jennings, but my clear cut hands-down preference would be Greg Jennings. He is getting up there in age at 31, but his 9 years experience in the league and the theory that he is just going to be signed for a year or two just so he can help out the youngsters fits perfectly with the needs of the Dolphins. He also has still been a productive receiver with 59 catches, 742 yards, 6 touchdowns, and 12.6 yards per catch average. In his 9 year career, he has never had a season with less than at least 3 touchdowns. He was cut by the Vikings because they just added Wallace and because he had a near-identical cap number, but he may be willing to play on a one year show me the contract.

What does the rest of Miami Dolphins news fans think about the Dolphins’ interest in Crabtree, and do you guys think that he is the best available option for Miami, or is there other players that would be a better fit?