Ravens release WR Crabtree after one season
Ryan Clark and Andrew Hawkins examine the impact Ravens releasing wide receiver Michael Crabtree with have on Lamar Jackson. (2:00)
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The Baltimore Ravens released veteran wide receiver Michael Crabtree after one disappointing season, the team announced Monday.
Crabtree, 31, was scheduled to receive a $2.5 million roster bonus next month and earn $7.5 million in 2019 after leading the NFL with eight dropped passes last season, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Baltimore will free up $4.667 million in salary-cap room by parting ways with Crabtree, who made 54 catches (his fewest in a full season since his 2009 rookie year) for 607 yards receiving and three touchdowns.
The Ravens are looking to make over the wide receiver position for new franchise quarterback Lamar Jackson. Crabtree totaled 13 catches for 135 yards and one touchdown in seven starts with Jackson.
In addition to the departure of Crabtree, John Brown is expected to leave in free agency. That would leave Willie Snead as the only returning wide receiver who made more than 20 catches last season.
Baltimore signed Crabtree to a three-year, $21 million deal last March, hoping he would make tough contested catches. But Crabtree struggled catching the ball all season and dropped a potential winning touchdown pass in the final minute of regulation in a 12-9 overtime loss in Cleveland.
Crabtree, the 10th overall pick of the 2009 draft, played his first nine seasons in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders. His 28 touchdown catches are the seventh most in the NFL since 2015, according to ESPN Stats & Info.