Is Cribbs' Worth to Special Teams Decreasing His Market Value?

Throughout these increasingly public and increasingly distracting contract negotiations an interesting chain of conversation has come up. Many people - likely including Browns management - are loathe to get roped into a "Hester deal" overpaying for lessening production. It's true that the Browns can't really afford to sink a lot of money into a kick returner seeing that even elite players in that position can rarely sustain their gaudy numbers. The funny thing about this conversation, though, is that Cribbs is only a kick returner because he's too good at it to do anything else.

Cribbs himself said of the Browns' offer of $1.4 million, "I'm not just insulted by the number, but by the fact they consider me just a kick returner. I'm so much more than that."

A quick look at the numbers confirms his statement. Over the past three years Cribbs has accrued more all-purpose yards than any other player in the NFL. As Mangini tried to get him more involved on offense as a receiver Cribbs managed a rather pedestrian 135 yards on 20 receptions with a 6.6 yard average. Rushing, however (including Wildcat runs and end-arounds) he accumulated 381 yards in 55 attempts for 6.9 yards per carry, better than any Browns back in recent memory. In the Pittsburgh game he accumulated 87 rushing yards - almost half of the team's total rush yards - against one of the stingiest run defenses in the league. Further, in the few times he was called on to pass he showed that while he could use some coaching to gain a pro QB's vision he certainly has a pro-QB arm.

With Cribbs on the field, possibilities are limitless and the ability to confuse a defense is maximized. Imagine Cribbs lined up wide, then motioned into the backfield with Jerome Harrison. The defense must now adjust to a possible run from either dynamic runner, a pass from the QB, or a handoff to Cribbs for a playaction pass. Even if Cribbs doesn't touch the ball in this scenario his mere presence on the field generates opportunities for the Browns offense as defenses adjust to key onto him.

Now think back to what Mangini has said regarding Cribbs' touches on offense: It's a delicate balance between WR, Wildcat and KR. You can't move him too much because it could affect his return production which is vital to the Browns.

This essentially means that the team can't give Cribbs too much time on the offense because the team needs his special teams contributions. When the argument to low-ball his contract negotiations revolves around the idea that he's just a special teams player this all seems like a self-fulfilling prophecy to not give Cribbs a raise.

In my mind Cribbs is too versatile to just leave on special teams, no matter how good he is. With the dearth of offensive weapons this team has, not exploring lining up Cribbs in the backfield as a running back, or not diversifying the team's Flash package is criminal. He could step in as this team's #2 QB, #2 RB and #3 WR today.

Perhaps Cribbs doesn't deserve Devin Hester money. Most would say Devin Hester doesn't deserve Devin Hester money. It's clear, though, that for everything he could bring to this team he deserves far more than Josh Cribbs money.