The Arizona Cardinals are closing in on a one-year deal with FA Michael Crabtree

Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

Cardinals bolster their receiving corps

On their initial visit, the Arizona Cardinals and Michael Crabtree could not come to terms to a deal.

Fast forward two weeks later, the Cardinals are now signing the free-agent wide receiver to a one-year deal.

Sources: The #AZCardinals are closing in on a deal with veteran FA WR Michael Crabtree. He visited a few weeks ago, didn’t agree to terms, but it is almost there this time. Some savvy help in the passing game.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 22, 2019

Crabtree, entering his 11th season in the NFL, was the 10th overall pick in the 2009 draft. He played six seasons with the 49ers (2009-14) before playing for the Raiders (2015-17) and most-recently the Ravens.

In his 10 seasons in the NFL, he has started 138 out of 141 games. During that time, he had 633 catches, 7,477 receiving yards, and 54 touchdowns.

Last season, he made 54 catches, 607 receiving yards, and three touchdowns.

The addition of Crabtree to the roster should come as no surprise. The Cardinals announced today the release of often-injured Kevin White, who was dealing with a bad hamstring injury that prevented him from playing any of the two preseason games so far. Fourth-round pick Hakeem Butler will miss significant time with a broken hand and is a candidate to be placed on injury reserve.

With the team being a little short-handed at the wide receiver position, the move to sign Crabtree makes sense. He brings size (6-1 215lbs), experience, and the physicality to the Cardinals that should benefit Kliff Kingsbury’s offense. He did play at Texas Tech in his college days and so he does have some familiarity with the air raid system.

He is expected to be a starter but how soon is still unknown.

Update: The Cardinals have agreed to terms with Michael Crabtree on a one-year deal.

It's official: @AZCardinals agree to one-year deal with WR Michael Crabtree:https://t.co/IMDXxyP0Vq

— Darren Urban (@Cardschatter) August 22, 2019

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