Will 2014 be Crabtree's last season as a Niner?

No! 2013 will be his last. There is no way he resigns with us and he should bring a first and maybe a second or mid round pick with one lowball year left on his contract.

Originally posted by GolittaCamper:
Some great point made in this thread, I hope the salary cap increase will give us enough room to keep them both. I just remember the hold out, and the kid (Crabtree) saying he will be the "Michael Jordan of Football".

The traded to Dallas for 1st rounder take is quite intriguing as well, I suppose we shall see, thanks for all the great input!

I don't think that the salary cap will go high enough for us to keep both. The salary cap has generally only gone up by a $1M-$2M.

As long as we sign Kaep and Aldon I can live without either Crabtree or Iupati. Crabtree wasn't drafted by Baalke so he could be the odd man out but interior OL might be easier to replace or cover up. This is tough because our ID is predicated upon our OL and Iupati is one of the biggest reasons why. I could scratch my hair follicles out on this issue

Originally posted by cciowa:
i think he is the least important person to sign when you rank him up there with CK and aldon. besides if some of the kids we have, like jenkins can come along and if kyle and mario come back ok, crabs can easily be dumped

Agree with this largely due to Baalke's use of position value/$$s. They are loading up with WRs who have potential and they will continue to do so. No one receiver will break the receiver bank because they need more than one receiver to succeed. Even Kaepernick could fall victim to this down the road if he demands thirty percent of the player pool.

This will continue to work as long as Harbaugh maintains a strong coaching staff--something many fail to value enough. The weakest link among the coaches may be Roman, but he is pretty good. If he leaves, or Fangio, I will assume JH will find an equal or better replacement. To state the obvious--it's a team game!

I do worry that Crabtree will insist on a very high contract and price himself out of the 49er's market. However, the 49ers are already paying a large amount of money for Boldin, so they have some money to spend on the WR position. My opinion is that it is hard to find a good WR, and even if you do, they don't tend to do well in their rookie season. It is easier to find an effective guard. So my guess is that the 49ers hold on to Crabtree and let Iupati go.

Originally posted by fryet:
I do worry that Crabtree will insist on a very high contract and price himself out of the 49er's market. However, the 49ers are already paying a large amount of money for Boldin, so they have some money to spend on the WR position. My opinion is that it is hard to find a good WR, and even if you do, they don't tend to do well in their rookie season. It is easier to find an effective guard. So my guess is that the 49ers hold on to Crabtree and let Iupati go.

Really? You think they're going to let arguably the best guard in the NFL go and in the process, break up the best o-line in the league. Iupati loves playing on this o-line. Plus, they're much deeper at receiver right now than o-line. I'll be stunned if they let Iupati go. I really don't think that's going to happen.

Originally posted by GNielsen:

Originally posted by fryet:
I do worry that Crabtree will insist on a very high contract and price himself out of the 49er's market. However, the 49ers are already paying a large amount of money for Boldin, so they have some money to spend on the WR position. My opinion is that it is hard to find a good WR, and even if you do, they don't tend to do well in their rookie season. It is easier to find an effective guard. So my guess is that the 49ers hold on to Crabtree and let Iupati go.

Really? You think they're going to let arguably the best guard in the NFL go and in the process, break up the best o-line in the league. Iupati loves playing on this o-line. Plus, they're much deeper at receiver right now than o-line. I'll be stunned if they let Iupati go. I really don't think that's going to happen.

The problem is that the 49ers have too much money tied up in their OL. If they can get both Iupati and Crabtree, then I would be very happy. But if they had to choose, WR is more important for the team. You would still have 3 Pro Bowl caliber players on the line, and if you can get just an average guard and center, the 49ers would continue to have one of the best OL in the league. However, if Crabtree and Boldin leave, then you could have a very poor WR corps. Could the 49ers still win? Sure, but look at Brady. He has had success with lesser WR, however when he had Randy Moss, they had a record setting year. Let's give CK a good WR, and we could have an elite offense as well.

I hope not, I am a big fan of Crabtree. It is a business however....

Originally posted by fryet:
The problem is that the 49ers have too much money tied up in their OL. If they can get both Iupati and Crabtree, then I would be very happy. But if they had to choose, WR is more important for the team. You would still have 3 Pro Bowl caliber players on the line, and if you can get just an average guard and center, the 49ers would continue to have one of the best OL in the league. However, if Crabtree and Boldin leave, then you could have a very poor WR corps. Could the 49ers still win? Sure, but look at Brady. He has had success with lesser WR, however when he had Randy Moss, they had a record setting year. Let's give CK a good WR, and we could have an elite offense as well.

I guess it's just a matter of opinion. I'm pretty old-school on this - I actually think a cohesive, powerful offensive line is a more important aspect of the offense than any single receiver unless he's truly extraordinary. One of the reasons why Brady has gotten away with so many different receivers is that they kept his O-line in tact for so many seasons. Crabtree is a very good possession receiver, but I'm just not sure he's as hard to replace as a freak like Iupati. They may think they've already got a potential replacement in Quinton Patton. And look at how they were able to snag Boldin - good possession receivers are around and usually available in free agency as well for less money than Crabtree is going to demand. Bottom line is I'd also like to keep them both and I hope they work it out. My suspicion, though, is that it's going to be harder to retain Crabtree than it will be to retain Iupati.

Originally posted by 9erfanAUS:

Originally posted by GolittaCamper:
Some great point made in this thread, I hope the salary cap increase will give us enough room to keep them both. I just remember the hold out, and the kid (Crabtree) saying he will be the "Michael Jordan of Football".

The traded to Dallas for 1st rounder take is quite intriguing as well, I suppose we shall see, thanks for all the great input!

I don't think that the salary cap will go high enough for us to keep both. The salary cap has generally only gone up by a $1M-$2M.

Damn it! I'm trying to think positive!

If you're a receiver and you want to be the "Michael Jordan of Football" I think you need to be a little faster than Crabtree. Don't get me wrong. I like him as a player a lot. But, I've never seen him run away from defenders like Jerry Rice did and I don't think there is any cornerback in the league who is afraid Crabtree is going to get behind him and be gone. I want them to retain him, but I don't think it would be the end of the world if they couldn't. I think obviously Kapernick is more important and after Kapernick, Iupati and then Aldon Smith. Then, in my mind, comes Crabtree.

Crabs will be gone for the $$. Jenkins Patton VD McDonald Lockette Williams and a couple of others to be named later will be plenty of threat For Kaep I believe...

Originally posted by fryet:
The problem is that the 49ers have too much money tied up in their OL.

I don't think anyone expects Goodwin to be back after the year, so that's $4mil. less that's going into the line. Other than that Staley is making $5mil/yr and Boone is making nothing. We really don't have much tied up in our line beyond next year. I would definitely rather have Iupati than Crabtree. An elite line allows the team to do so much more offensively both running and passing. Receivers seem like they're going the way of running backs where they're a dime a dozen for pretty decent players and don't need to be drafted real high other than the freaks like Calivon Johnson and Julio Jones.

I think he's gone. I don't see him taking the modest and humble approach. He wants to go home, so oh well. Can't keep everyone... Post would've been much better had you left Kaep out.

Originally posted by Disp:

Originally posted by fryet:
The problem is that the 49ers have too much money tied up in their OL.

I don't think anyone expects Goodwin to be back after the year, so that's $4mil. less that's going into the line. Other than that Staley is making $5mil/yr and Boone is making nothing. We really don't have much tied up in our line beyond next year. I would definitely rather have Iupati than Crabtree. An elite line allows the team to do so much more offensively both running and passing. Receivers seem like they're going the way of running backs where they're a dime a dozen for pretty decent players and don't need to be drafted real high other than the freaks like Calivon Johnson and Julio Jones.

They just signed Anthony Davis to a new contract. Staley keeps going to the Pro Bowl so his next contract will probably be higher. Unless I am mistaken, I think Boone makes respectable money as well.