The Arizona Cardinals trade rumors involving Larry Fitzgerald did not really go anywhere at the deadline this season and as things move into the offseason, general manager Steve Kiem has a message for everyone, saying on Pro Football Talk that he wants the WR to be a Cardinal for life.
Kiem appeared on Pro Football Live and spoke about Fitzgerald, saying that he hopes the wide receiver is with the team for a long time. ESPN.com previously reported that a trade for Fitzgerald would likely be in play during the offseason, as hit contract is very big and gets bigger next year and a move could save the team a nice amount of money. The Cardinals are right there in the playoff picture and with the deadline gone, this isn't that relevant now, but in the offseason it is sure to come up again.
The report from ESPN.com said that the team likely will try and get his upcoming $18 million salary cap number lowered and a trade could help give them some relief after a couple down seasons. Fitzgerald is considered to be one of the best players in the NFL and sources said that the Cardinals likely would look at the option of trading him in the offseason. Last season Fitz dealt with some terrible quarterback play and ended up with 71 catches for 798 yards and this season he is second on the team behind Michael Floyd with 45 catches for 554 yards and six scores.
Fitzgerald had put up some amazing numbers in his career and while he snapped his streak of five seasons with 1,000 yards last year, that was more the fault of the offense and terrible quarterbacks rather than his own. Fitzgerald is having a solid season with 470 yards and five touchdowns with 36 catches and he had a great game a few weeks ago with six catches for 117 yards, but the Cardinals are not a great team and they could decide to change things up.
Fitz has been a healthy player through his career and while teams like the Packers, Patriots, Colts and Ravens all could use a receiver, they may not be willing to part with a high amount of picks to get him. Fitzgerald has not missed a game since back in 2007 with the Cardinals and that was only one game and his best season came in 2008 when he had 96 catches for a career high 1,431 yards. He has put up some amazing numbers in his career, including three straight seasons with double digit TD catches and in those seasons he had at least 96 receptions, with 100 coming in 2007.
