The Iupati / Crabtree Re-sign or Don't Thread

[deep9er]

I don't disagree...

But if he has peaked or plateaued where does he go from here? No where to go but down if that truly is the case. And if that is the case, how does the front office respond with a contract offer?

Just to clarify, I'm not saying he has peaked, only suggesting that he might have. And I'm sure the front office is weighing that possibility as well...

yeah ok.

as most already project, other teams will think he's good now whether or not he peaked. they'll also think he's in his prime, not old, and good for his entire new contract.

this means we can't afford him....unfortunately.....but that's the cap and its doing what it was intended to.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

For this team, I think Crabtree is the harder player to replace. But I wouldn't be shocked if we see them both leave. We made a lot of moves at interior OL this offseason, though, and I've got to think that was at least partially with an eye on Iupati. That said, Boone only has two more seasons under contract, I think.

 

[purguy12]

Yeah if stevie looks good we can always draft a WR next year in the draft or sign another FA.

 

[whysies]

For this team, I think Crabtree is the harder player to replace. But I wouldn't be shocked if we see them both leave. We made a lot of moves at interior OL this offseason, though, and I've got to think that was at least partially with an eye on Iupati. That said, Boone only has two more seasons under contract, I think.

It wouldn't shock me if our interior Oline a couple years from now is some combination of Martin, Kilgore, and Thomas

All are question marks though of course

 

[dredinis21]

It wouldn't shock me if our interior Oline a couple years from now is some combination of Martin, Kilgore, and Thomas

All are question marks though of course

I don't see Kilgore cracking the starting lineup after Martin figures out the line calls and details on how to play C in the NFL. I give Kilgore about 3 starts before Martin overtakes him. I just don't have a ton of confidence in Kilgore, especially after Goodwin sucked out loud last year and Kilgore STILL couldn't unseat him.

 

[whysies]

I don't see Kilgore cracking the starting lineup after Martin figures out the line calls and details on how to play C in the NFL. I give Kilgore about 3 starts before Martin overtakes him. I just don't have a ton of confidence in Kilgore, especially after Goodwin sucked out loud last year and Kilgore STILL couldn't unseat him.

I don't have a ton of confidence in him either but I don't see Martin starting this year barring injury, and even then I could see Looney ahead of him. Harbaugh is allergic to playing rookies for the most part, I just don't see him starting a rookie at center.

 

[CalamityX11]

It wouldn't shock me if our interior Oline a couple years from now is some combination of Martin, Kilgore, and Thomas

All are question marks though of course

I would hope we upgraded from Kilgore by then lol....

 

[CalamityX11]

I think(more so hope) Martin will start the year as our C....

 

[maniax]

Here is how I hope to see this play out.

We go ahead and franchise Iupati on a one-yr deal for two different reasons. First, it buys us time to take a hard look at Thomas and Martin in order to see if they truly are deserving of taking over LG if Iupati were to leave. Second, it gives us an opportunity to take a hard look at Iupati and figure out if he's 1.) healthy and 2.) productive as he was two years prior. Based on those two factors, we move forward from there.

As far as Crabtree is concerned, this one is more of a gamble. Adam Schefter tweeted out just today that the following WRs are playing on expiring contracts this season:

Torrey Smith
Demaryius Thomas
Reggie Wayne
Jeremy Maclin
Hakeem Nicks
Dez Bryant
Jordy Nelson
Randall Cobb
Roddy White
Wes Welker
Michael Crabtree

I would give him a hard line contract offer 5 yr/40 mil, 28 mil guaranteed and allow him to shop around. Even if half of the players are franchised, that still means that there will be 5-6 guys still out there looking for big deals. The problem with this is that he is the straw that stirs the drink in our passing game and is frankly we have been looking for since TO left. He moves the chains, he's dynamic, he's clutch, he's been a great team player, and most of all, he's a legit possession WR. The other problem is that I typically am not a big fan of paying for other team's FAs.

With Crabtree, it also will be interesting to see how productive Stevie Johnson is our offense because if he is as dynamic as Crabs has been, then I could see us letting Crabs walk and roll hard with Ellington and Patton as our 3rd/4th WRs.

That is a pretty good FA list. I'd rather have half those receivers over Crabtree.
(Torrey Smith, Demaryius, Bryant, Nelson, Cobb, White).

I'd say he's on par with a healthy Nicks.

Crabtree is better than Welker and Wayne because those dudes are old, and he's definiely better than Maclin.

 

[TobyTyler]

Crabtree's a good player. If the asking price is not outrageous, I'd like to keep him.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

That is a pretty good FA list. I'd rather have half those receivers over Crabtree.
(Torrey Smith, Demaryius, Bryant, Nelson, Cobb, White).

I'd say he's on par with a healthy Nicks.

Crabtree is better than Welker and Wayne because those dudes are old, and he's definiely better than Maclin.

Of that list, Thomas is clearly superior to Crabtree. Bryant is, too. Cobb and Nelson are probably better when healthy, but I wouldn't be surprised if those guys fell off a bit when no longer playing with Rodgers. I wouldn't take any of the rest over Crabtree, due to age, injury concerns, or talent. Nicks had a couple very good seasons, but he wasn't good last year. He's got to prove he's back before he's even in the conversation with Crabtree coming off the injury, much less when healthy.

 

[deep9er]

Crabtree's a good player. If the asking price is not outrageous, I'd like to keep him.

at what point would you consider it outrageous?

 

[TobyTyler]

at what point would you consider it outrageous?

Somewhere inside the top 10 salaries for wide receivers in the league would be too much.

 

[purguy12]

all depends on what they are looking for. Money talks.

 

[willtalk]

They might be better off letting them both go. I do think this next season will give everyone a more realistic picture of Crabs actual value to the team. I do think that having to deal with his agent is a real handycap because he will try to get as much as he can. Everyone sometimes forgets that you are dealing with the agent and not he player. Iupoti will be too expensive and guards are an easier position to fill. Signing Martin and drafting the IR rookie was the team preparing for losing him to free agency. I do wish they had moved up and drafted a good WR. This was the year in respect to both qualilty, quantity and the availability of the resources in extra picks to have acquired a good WR. It might be some time before that type of opportunity presents itself again. You cant just say if Crabs or the other receivers don't work out that they can just draft one next season. The level of quality picks at that position might not be there and that would make the competition and cost to move up greater. It will be some time before the Niners have a high pick in the draft again which is where they would have to be to draft a high caliber WR.

 

[NinerSickness]

I think some people are taking all-pro' guard play for granted, and they don't understand much worse the offense would be without him.

 

[deep9er]

I think some people are taking all-pro' guard play for granted, and they don't understand much worse the offense would be without him.

think most of us DO know there'll be a drop off without Iupati, but the cap is the cap and managing it is part of the game.

GM's have to make tough decisions and more so when your roster is GOOD.

 

[Badger8843]

I think some people are taking all-pro' guard play for granted, and they don't understand much worse the offense would be without him.

We have depth at the OL, and drafted Thomas, who they said would have gone a lot higher if not for his injury

 

[purguy12]

We have depth at the OL, and drafted Thomas, who they said would have gone a lot higher if not for his injury

He would of been a late 1st rd pick to early 2nd rd pick. Injury screwed him a little. Kid has talent.

 

[Badger8843]

Yea and we have both Martin's who can play a couple spots, so if we are spending 7-8 mil on someone I would rather spend it on Crabs