Wide Receiver Larry Fitzgerald Staying With Arizona Cardinals

Don’t expect to see wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald in a different uniform anytime soon. Amidst talks that Larry Fitzgerald might be traded due to salary cap restrictions, the Cardinals have been working hard to try and secure a new deal with the veteran wide receiver that will pretty much guarantee his stay in Arizona for the rest of his career. This morning, it was announced that the two parties have reached a deal where Fitzgerald will be paid $11 million per year for the next two years.

In 2011, Fitzgerald signed a 8-year deal with the team for $120 million. However, due to limited salary cap space, Fitzgerald’s contract needed to be restructured, causing his future salary to take a hit, if he was to stay on the team. The Cardinals need enough salary cap space in order to acquire key players in free agency, and paying Fitzgerald the original $23.6 million he was promised would definitely take a toll on the team’s offseason ventures. 

While Fitzgerald was no doubt a star player for the Cardinals during the days of Kurt Warner, which included the team’s appearance in Super Bowl XLIII, his production on the field has decreased in recent years. In fact, he was considered the primary wide receiver for his team this past season, yet his receptions, yards, and touchdown stats compared to fellow wideouts Michael Floyd and John Brown say otherwise. Basically, he just may not be worth the $23.6 million that he was supposed to get under his original deal. The Cardinals knew it, he knew it, and any other team that is looking for a wide receiver probably knew it too. With that in mind, Fitzgerald was not opposed to taking a pay cut and staying on the team, knowing that the Cardinals were willing to compensate him appropriately. Larry Fitzgerald has become the face of the Cardinals since he was first drafted by the team in 2004, and considering he will be 34 and near the end of his playing career when this new deal ends, it looks like things will stay that way.