Cardinals reportedly work out veteran receiver Michael Crabtree but expected deal may not happen

Michael Crabtree brings experience to a relatively young Cardinals' offense

The Arizona Cardinals are exploring bolstering their wide receiving corps, working out veteran free-agent Michael Crabtree on Monday, according to multiple reports. However, those reports conflict on whether the team will add the receiver to the fold.

Though one report on Monday indicated that the Cardinals would sign the 31-year-old free-agent wide receiver, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports that the team is not signing Crabtree at this time.

Crabtree spent the 2018 season with the Baltimore Ravens, and caught just 54 passes for 607 yards and three touchdowns. Despite the fact that the Ravens had signed Crabtree to a three-year, $21 million deal last offseason, the team decided to part ways with him in February. 

Crabtree was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers with the No. 10 overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft. He spent his first six NFL seasons by the Bay, and had his best year in 2012, when he caught 85 passes for 1,105 yards and nine touchdowns. Crabtree then signed with the Oakland Raiders in 2015, and played three seasons for the Silver and Black. He put up another 1,000-yard season in 2016. 

Over 10 seasons, Crabtree has played in 141 games and recorded 633 receptions for 7,477 yards and 54 touchdowns. He would bring some experience to a relatively young Cardinals receiving corps -- excluding 35-year-old Larry Fitzgerald, of course.

Christian Kirk and Kevin White are the other two wideouts who are slated to start for the Cardinals. The former is a promising second-year wideout who had his rookie season cut short by a broken foot, and the latter has played in just 14 regular-season games. 

The Cardinals drafted several wideouts this year who they hope can make an immediate impact in Kliff Kingsbury's offense. Arizona spent its second-round pick on Andy Isabella out of Massachusetts, a fourth-round pick on Hakeem Butler out of Iowa State and a sixth-round pick on KeeSean Johnson out of Fresno State. 

If he were to join Arizona, Crabtree would likely have the chance to carve out a role for himself in what should be a pass-happy offense, and at the very least he could serve as a reliable target for No. 1 overall pick Kyler Murray.