"I think just having the sense of security for him just makes everything so much easier," Fitzgerald said. "He knows he has the reins. He knows he's going to go out there and play."
The Arizona Cardinals have been called all of that -- and more -- over the years. Much of it has been justified. For years, the Cardinals were an organization that didn't want to spend to be good. Part of it was they couldn't.
Fitzgerald in four seasons: 330 catches, 4,554 yards and 34 touchdowns. (US Presswire)
They played in a college stadium with a bad lease and no club seats. Revenue was tight. That has changed. With a new, shiny stadium that produces plenty of revenue and president Michael Bidwill, the son of owner Bill Bidwill, much more active in the organization and seemingly much more willing to spend, those nasty words aren't coming the Cardinals way as much anymore.
These aren't the same Cardinals, including at the negotiating table. Which brings us to receiver Larry Fitzgerald.
The Cardinals have put themselves into a tough situation with Fitzgerald, their star player, because he has hit accelerators in his contract that raise his salary to $14.6 million in 2008 and $17.4 million in 2009. Even with the cap at $116 million, that's way too much money for one player.
The Cardinals want to keep Fitzgerald but not at those numbers. They've hinted that they might be forced to release players and won't be able to add new ones in free-agency. They might not be able to re-sign linebacker Calvin Pace, a player they want back.
Fitzgerald's deal doesn't work financially the way it is. But the Cardinals have said they will keep Fitzgerald, no matter what.
So these are the options: Keep him and possibly cut some of his friends to make it happen -- weakening the team in the process -- or give him a new long-term deal. The Cardinals are trying to get the latter done, but so far they've reached no deal.
By JUDD ZULGAD, Star Tribune February 23, 2008 INDIANAPOLIS — The Vikings' need for a top-flight receiver would make Holy Angels graduate Larry Fitzgerald Jr. a seemingly very attractive option considering his contract issues with the Arizona Cardinals. Only one problem: Arizona isn't planning to move the two-time Pro Bowl selection. "We're negotiating with Larry to try to restructure his deal," Rod Graves, Cardinals vice president of football operations, said Saturday at the NFL Scouting Combine. "At this point, we do know that he's going to remain a Arizona Cardinal. He has a huge cap number going into the '08 season, so obviously we're trying to restructure it. But regardless of whether we have success with that or not he will remain a Cardinal. We will not trade him." And then Graves backtracked a bit, saying: "Let me just say this, that's certainly not our intention. I never say never to anything." Fitzgerald, four seasons into his six-year rookie contract, is slated to count a whopping $16 million against Arizona's salary cap in 2008. By catching 330 passes for 4,544 yards and 34 touchdowns in his NFL career, he has reached several escalator clauses built into his contract. Fitzgerald, 24, caught 100 passes for 1,409 yards and 10 touchdowns this season. According to a recent report in the Arizona Republic, the Cardinals are believed to have made a multiyear offer that would make him the highest-paid receiver in the NFL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
CARDINALS TO FLY WITHNAVY’S FAMED “BLUE ANGELS”
Tempe, AZ – On Wednesday, January 30, Cardinals President MICHAEL BIDWILL and Pro Bowl wide receiver LARRY FITZGERALD will each take flight in an F-18 Hornet along with a pilot from the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels.
Keon Lattimore and Marcus Fitzgerald have been to Aloha Stadium before to cheer on and support their older brothers. Being on the sidelines is a role they know well, having grown up in the shadows of two football stars.
This time, Lattimore and Fitzgerald are the ones everybody will be watching. They're teammates for the East in the Hula Bowl on Saturday.
TEMPE, Ariz. — Larry Fitzgerald is one of the great leapers in the NFL, but this jump was something else. He warmed up last summer for what has become the best season of his career with a 628-foot bungee jump off Sky Tower in downtown Auckland, New Zealand.
"I was thinking that (Cardinals general manager) Rod Graves probably wouldn't like me doing this," Fitzgerald said. "It was crazy. I did it three times."
In his fourth pro season, Fitzgerald leads the NFC with 75 catches, 28 shy of the franchise record he set in 2005. With five games to go, he already has his second 1,000-yard season at 1,060. His career totals are 305 catches for 4,195 yards and 30 touchdowns.
Yet he's just 24 and refuses to consider himself among the NFL's elite.
The most elusive route of the day was run by Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald.
He sprinted off the field in his socks, threw his shoes into the stands, ran a post pattern into the locker room, showered, dressed and high-stepped toward a waiting car and driver before an in-pursuit media member could even turn on her tape recorder.
"Long gone," one security guard said after the team's 31-21 victory over Detroit on Sunday.
"You're too slow," another said.
"We got him," said Ron Flansburg, whose son, Bailey, and two friends secured autographs in the players' parking lot. "We had to move quick, though."
FLAGSTAFF - They are receivers on what is supposed to be a run-first team. And they say they couldn’t be happier. Seems hard to believe, especially when those receivers have each caught more than 100 passes in a season, a feat they now seem unlikely to repeat.
