Crop tool turns background into a layer - help!

I've seen this posted in a few forums but the solution offered doesn't work for me.

When I crop an image in photoshop, the flat (background) is automatically converted to a layer. This forces me to take the extra step of flattening again before I can save it.

The solution that is always given is to go to the option bar while cropping and check "delete pixels."
The problem is - I don't have that option. I've searched photoshop help and looked in every submenu I can but I can't figure out how to get "delete pixels" as an option. Help!

https://preview.redd.it/i52unau2i31e1.png?width=1337&format=png&auto=webp&s=9d2eb79cd26968c217f0a88ed02d838f8c1d90c5