UPDATE: Fitzgerald Signs New 2 Yr Contract w/ Cards

[BLUE 1,026]

Per Rotoworld.com:

A source tells FOX Sports Arizona that Larry Fitzgerald does not expect to be back with the Cardinals next season.

Fitzgerald carries a $23.6M cap number in 2015. The Cardinals are obviously going to ask him to take a massive pay cut, especially after the 31-year-old failed to top 1,000 yards for the third straight season. But FOX's report suggests Fitz will reject a renegotiated deal and force the team to cut him, thus freeing him from a situation where he reportedly "is not happy with his role on the team." The future Hall of Famer apparently doesn't like playing the slot and being a complementary piece on offense. This situation could get messy once the Cardinals are eliminated from the playoffs. Jan 1 - 9:29 AM

Source: FOX Sports Arizona

 

Edited February 18, 2015 by Favre4Ever

[FartWaffles 1,857]

Larry is going home.

[Dutch 874]

Larry Fitzgerald has been one of my favorite players of all time since forever. I still do believe he can be a 1000 yard receiver and a double digit TD guy (mainly redzone threat getting open) in the right situation. Sadly, not sure if that's with the Eagles if Foles doesn't rebound but I would LOVE for Larry to be an Eagle. Resign Maclin, cut Cooper, sign Larry and keep Jordan Matthews in the slot. Wishful thinking...

 

More than likely though, I could see him become a Patriot and resurge as a dangerous threat in this league once again.

Edited January 1, 2015 by Dutch

[BradyFan81 404]

Mother of god I would love this guy on the Pats.

 

Feels like this breakup has been coming for a while though. No need for Arizona to have him with such a bad QB.

Edited January 1, 2015 by RevisFan81

[Bay 2,003]

Now I can root for the guy more as long as he stays away from Seattle...

[Dutch 874]

Wilson couldn't capitalize Larry's potential. It would be an unorthodox but still impactful connection though.

[Bucman 891]

It sucks the guy spent most of his career with terrible QB play

[Zack_of_Steel+ 3,014]

There were rumors of him coming to Pittsburgh ages ago. Would be awesome to throw in there and mentor Bryant on how to use his body.

[Favre4Ever+ 4,476]

Fitzy has had an undying dedication to Arizona, the Cardinals, and their fans forever now... I don't really feel bad for him being 'stuck' in Zona. I do, however, hope he can do better next time around. He needs a SB.

[theMileHighGuy 656]

I see him going back to Pittsburgh. It's a great fit, he would dominate again in a big play offense. It's a little unfair to say that the guy has lost a step looking at what he's played with. I would love to have to have him, but we're not gonna pay two big receiver contracts. I think the Pats would struggle to make this happen too. They're already doing a lot of restructuring to retain Revis.

Edited January 2, 2015 by theMileHighGuy

[oochymp 2,393]

maybe Fitz is at the point where he wants to scale back his reps, but I think Pittsburgh has too many good WRs right now for that to feel like a great fit, I think someone who's a bit thinner in the receiving corps would offer him a better deal

[Dutch 874]

Larry to Pittsburgh would be a great move too. Antonio warrants enough attention as it is and have to Larry on the other side with Big Ben's ability to extend plays, speedy Martavis Bryant in the slot AND with Leveon Bell? My God...

[Zack_of_Steel+ 3,014]

The Steelers have 3 WRs, but still wasted 655 snaps on the likes of Lance Moore, Justin Brown, and Darrius Heyward-Bey. Antonio Brown/Markus Wheaton/Martavis Bryant got 1085/760/306 (Martavis in 10 games). They'd find/make room. Wheaton already started losing snaps (dropped to ~50%) after the first 6 weeks of the season.

[oochymp 2,393]

They'd find/make room.

Certainly true, but he wouldn't have as big a role in Pittsburgh as he would in New England, for example, so I would expect the wr needy teams to offer him more in correlation with the larger anticipated role

[Attyla the Hawk 197]

Wilson couldn't capitalize Larry's potential. It would be an unorthodox but still impactful connection though.

 

Of all of the contenders, probably only Seattle and New England are the teams missing an outside receiver of his pedigree.

 

If he has issues being relegated to the slot and wants a ring as he's expressed, then those two teams are probably his best avenue for achieving both. Neither team needs him to be a savior. And they don't have players on their rosters that provide even what he could at this stage of his career.

 

I'm not sure that stats really drive him at this stage. I would find it difficult to believe he'd move to a division rival of the Cardinals. He seems to have too much affinity for the organization and the city to make that move. But when it comes to it and you're a free agent -- that can go out the window pretty quickly.

 

It's worth noting that Seattle has the 5th most available cap space in the NFL this offseason. Even with expected extensions, they'll have plenty to make a move.

[DonovanMcnabb for H.O.F 2,241]

I HATE cheering for an NFC North team not named Lions. But I'm cheering for Bridgewater, and I think Fitz going to Minnesota would be a smart move.

 

Especially if I end up going to grad school in Minnesota, so I could watch him play and stuff.

[Thanatos 2,847]

Oh god please. Please please please.

[True Blue 16]

 

 

It's worth noting that Seattle has the 5th most available cap space in the NFL this offseason. Even with expected extensions, they'll have plenty to make a move.

 

I don't understand how this is possible. Sure, Percy's off the books, but, Wilson will be going from what, 800k to 20M? Plus, we have to get a deal for Wagner since there's not way we let him hit free agency. Not sure what the cap space looks like with Wright and Avril's deals also.

[Attyla the Hawk 197]

 

I don't understand how this is possible. Sure, Percy's off the books, but, Wilson will be going from what, 800k to 20M? Plus, we have to get a deal for Wagner since there's not way we let him hit free agency. Not sure what the cap space looks like with Wright and Avril's deals also.

 

Few reasons:

 

1. We have 22 free agents on the roster. Many of whom won't be resigning. But some will likely end up coming back. I'd assume that we will probably end up using 10 million to resign these guys. Players like Kevin Williams may come back. Possibly James Carpenter. Ricardo Lockette being another. Otherwise there are a lot of guys on our FA list we will let go. Lots of RFAs within that FA count -- they likely will come back.

 

2. Not a lot of bad contracts. The old standard was a team can carry 6 contracts at 6m+. That's probably now somewhere around 7-8m. Seattle has 6 contracts at 7m or above cap wise (Sherman 12m, Lynch 8.5m, Avril 8m, Bennett 8m, Thomas 7.4m and Okung 7.2m). Seattle isn't paying outrageous contracts for middling average veteran players. Remember, that Avril was already making 9m last year. Cap wise, his 2015 and 2016 salary is less by a million. Okung likewise is a 4m drop from 2014 to 2015.

 

3. Functional depth. Where Seattle is cap sound, is in the 2nd/3rd team. The roster there is littered with sub 1m contracts. We don't have to add 3m+ veterans to plug many depth holes. The exception being the DL. We have a substantial number of vets there in our 9 deep. There is currently 26+ million being paid out to the DL contracts over 1m a year. That's not including Kevin Williams should he be resigned. If we're maybe looking at who Seattle might target positionally in the draft -- DL might be one we focus on. This position group stands out from all others in terms of high cap expense for veteran players.

 

4. Extentions are cheap. The beauty of extending your own talent, is that you spread out a generally reduced raise over an extra year. Wilson will get over 20m/year I expect. But years one and two probably are going to be under 10m as far as cap hit goes. The first couple seasons of an extension are generally pretty low cap wise. By the time year three hits -- the expected increase in cap space year over year starts turning the ballooning cap value into a decent bargain if the talent keeps developing. The way extensions are front loaded with guaranteed money early -- it's a win win for both parties. The team, if the prospect degrades, can cut him mid contract with little cap implications. The player gets guaranteed money earlier. Always important for a profession where injury is rampant.

 

5. Drop in dead money. Seattle had 18m in dead money costs in 2014. 7m on Harvin, and another 7m on the cuts of Sidney Rice, Chris Clemons and Red Bryant. Currently that figure will drop to an as of now 7m (Harvin's remaining dead money). So Harvin isn't off the books until after 2015. But the saving of his base salary will outpace his dead money hit. There aren't really many cuts expected in 2015 that will involve dead money. The two most likely cap casualties -- if we even have any -- are Lynch and/or Mebane. But between them that's not 1m in dead money.

 

Seattle's roster model has hit maintenance mode. Instead of facing cuts of players which accrue dead money, we let UFA's sign elsewhere at zero cap hit. In fact it becomes straight up cap relief. Additionally, we end up in position to acquire comp picks. So instead of adding dead money, we're adding draft picks for even more cheap depth. The model, as I'm seeing it executed by Seattle -- looks like we're looking to restrict our pre June 1 UFA signings and to get 2-3 additional picks via compensation committee.

 

6. Rollover cap. Currently, it looks like Seattle will have 5m in cap rollover for 2015. They rolled 2.8 in 2013 and are at 5m today.

 

I'd expect after resigning the FAs we want to return, plus the Wilson/Wagner extensions -- we should still have over 10m in cap room.

Edited January 8, 2015 by Attyla the Hawk

[Dutch 874]

I wouldn't want to see Larry go to the Seahawks. I'd rather him go to a team that actually passes the ball and utilize him for what he has left in the tank which I think is still very good WR capabilities. He would be very limited with Wilson. If for whatever reason Reggie Wayne hangs it up, I'd love to see Larry with Luck. I think that would be a dynamite connection.

[oochymp 2,393]

I'd love to see Larry with Luck. I think that would be a dynamite connection.

count me among those who wouldn't, at least I wouldn't want to see the Titans face that twice a year

[Sacks98 28]

Yea i don't think he is a good fit for Seattle either i don't think he would be happy in our system probably going to end up in NE.

Edited January 9, 2015 by Sacks98

[BLUE 1,026]

Per Rotoworld.com:

Cardinals president Michael Bidwill believes Larry Fitzgerald will be back with the team in 2015.

"I’m sure we’ll get it worked out," Bidwill said. "We’ve had a couple of conversations that I think were productive so we’ll continue those discussions." There is almost zero chance Arizona keeps Fitzgerald at his current $23.6 million cap hit, so those productive conversations likely centered around a pay cut for the 31-year-old wideout. After appearing resolutely opposed to a pay cut during the season, Fitzgerald has softened his stance in recent weeks. If a deal is to be done, it will have to be before Fitz's $8 million roster bonus comes due in March. Jan 17 - 10:23 AM

Source: ESPN

[Dutch 874]

[Favre4Ever+ 4,476]

That's what I am talking about. Just so devoted and loyal to Arizona, the Cardinals, and those fans. I mean... that's AMAZING. Great... That kind of loyalty is pretty rare these days. But, I also have little remorse for the things he has had to deal with (like horrible QBs) and his lack of championships.