The Arizona Cardinals may consider a Larry Fitzgerald trade at some point this season due to his large contract and teams like the New England Patriots or NY Jets could be options for the Cards, as the Pats have struggled on offense at times and cut wideout Kenbrell Thompkins, while the Jets have been horrendous on offense and have had Eric Decker hobbled all season with injuries and they have the cap space to take on the contract.
The Cardinals clearly aren't looking to trade a player of the caliber of Fitzgerald, but at some point they may have to make the tough decision to do it. According to ESPN.com and ESPNBoston.com, Fitzgerald's contract will only get bigger as each season goes on and he is signed through 2019. ESPN.com Cardinals blogger Josh Weinfuss writes that with 11 players heading into free agency, the Cardinals have needs and getting draft picks or players in a trade could be a good move for the Cardinals.
Fitzgerald has not been off to a great start this season and part of that has had to do with injuries at the quarterback position, but it is still alarming that he only has 13 catches through four games. Fitzgerald has not been getting targeted as much as he has in the past and with the emergence of Michael Floyd, he could see less targets as the season goes on. Fitzgerald is as talented as any WR in the league, but with the Cards coming up to some tough cap decisions, a move may have to be made.
The Patriots likely will not do this deal because they aren't looking to add a major contract, but the Jets really could deal with the cap hit at least for this season. A trade like this likely will not go down, but last season the Browns did move Trent Richardson and that was a shocking trade and now something like that could happen again. Some in the Jets organization have been bothered with the leftover cap space that GM John Idzik did not use this offseason and he could rectify that with this move.
Fitzgerald comes into this week with just 13 catches in four games and that is well off of his usual numbers. He had seven targets last week and had three catches and while Carson Palmer has been solid when healthy, over the past few years the Cards QB situation has been terrible. Kurt Warner was the last option that was consistent before Palmer and with Floyd and John Brown emerging, it could leave Fitzgerald without his usual production.
The past two seasons were the first time Fitzgerald was under 1000 yards since back in 2006 and his 71 catches in 2012 were his lowest since that season when he missed three games. Michael Floyd has 12 catches for 259 yards this season and he has been inconsistent along with the QBs, going for over 100 yards and then putting up nothing the next game. John Brown has just 11 catches, but he has made them count, with three going for TDs.
