The Arizona Cardinals and Larry Fitzgerald are coming close to a new contract that would keep Fitzgerald in Arizona for the back stretch of his career and this comes as his release was a potential option for the Cardinals, which could have led to interest from the New England Patriots, Miami Dolphins, Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos.
Fitzgerald and the Cardinals have been meeting this offseason to work out a new contract and now it appears they are close to a deal. According to Adam Schefter at ESPN.com, the Cardinals and Fitzgerald are near an agreement on a multiyear deal. The Cardinals wanted Fitzgerald to take a pay cut and hoped to get his cap number down from $23 million. Fitzgerald will be 32 years old this season and while he has declined in his production, he is still one of the best receivers in the league.
Earlier in the season, Josh Weinfuss wrote that Fitzgerald likely would have to take a pay cut to remain in Arizona past 2014. Weinfuss had one league exec saying that the cap number was "unmanageable" foe the Cardinals and that if he doesn't take a pay cut, he could be released. Fitzgerald is 31 years old and while he led the team in receiving, he put up some of his lowest numbers in his career. Part of that was due to injuries at the QB position to Carson Palmer and Drew Stanton, but his numbers have gone down considerably over the last few years.
Fitzgerald had a down year despite being one of the leaders for the Cardinals, as he once again was under 800 yards receiving, the second time he has done that in three years. Fitzgerald came in with five straight 1000 yard seasons, but the last three have been below that number and he had just 63 catches this season, a low since back in his rookie season. Bruce Arians has Michael Floyd and John Brown as options that are emerging and that have pushed Fitzgerald back a bit.
The Cardinals went 11-5 last season and ended up having to travel to play Carolina despite the Panthers having a losing record. Losing Palmer was very tough for the Cardinals and now they have some major questions heading into 2015. The front office is optimistic that Carson Palmer will make a full recovery, but that will be his second major knee surgery. Fitzgerald is still up in the air and the team needs to make some major upgrades on offense, as they were second worst in the league in rushing last season.
ESPN Boston reports that if the Cardinals release Fitzgerald, the Patriots would be interested in adding him. Fox Sports Arizona reported earlier this offseason that Fitzgerald likely will not be with the team in 2015, as he may not be willing to take a pay cut. Fitzgerald has a cap hit over $20 million and that is a lot for any one player, especially one that will be 32 when the season starts. The site later said that the two sides have "positive movement" on a deal, but that doesn't mean they will be able to come to an agreement this offseason.