Over the past two years Larry Fitzgerald has come up in trade rumors for the Arizona Cardinals and while he likely will not move at the NFL trade deadline, the team may look at a deal in the future and teams like the Oakland Raiders, Cleveland Browns, Minnesota Vikings, NY Giants, Miami Dolphins or Indianapolis Colts all could be potential destinations if he gets moved.
Fitzgerald is still one of the best receivers in the league, but he is now 31 years old and has a massive contract with a few years still left on it. According to ESPN.com team writer John Weinfuss, the Cardinals may consider trading Fitzgerald down the line, as he is due to be a $23 million cap hit next year and that could be an issue. The Cardinals have 11 players coming into free agency next year and they may get Fitzgerald to restructure, but he has major money coming over the next three seasons.
LeSean McCoy was mentioned as a dream option by ESPN.com, but let's be honest, that isn't happening for the Oakland Raiders. ESPN put together some what if trades and one was McCoy to the Raiders and yes it's very very very unlikely and nearly impossible, but ESPN put together some proposals to get it done. The Eagles likely would want top picks and that would mean the raiders would have to give up at least one of two first rounders along with a second round pick, writes Greg Garber.
McFadden has been solid this year and he has not been as injury prone as the past and could play in a career high amount of games. Maurice Jones-Drew has been terrible, while Derek Carr has showed some talent as a rookie and could be the answer for the Raiders.
The Cardinals could be more willing to make a move with the emergence of Michael Floyd and John Brown and with Andre Ellington set for a contract in a couple years there will be big money coming to the cap again. Fitzgerald is one of the most talented receivers in all of football, but over the past three years his numbers have not been quite where they usually are and that could factor into things as well. Fitzgerald has come on as of late and he now has 30 catches this season for 443 yards and two touchdowns.
Fitzgerald had a streak of five seasons of at least 1,000 receiving yards snapped in 2012 and coming into that season he had been over 1k in six of seven years. Fitzgerald has gone into triple digit catches twice in his career and he also has been very durable, not missing a game since back in the 2007 season. Fitzgerald had 82 catches last season and 71 in the year before that for just 798 yards, his lowest totals since the 2006 season.
The Raiders have some cap space to work with and with how bad the team is this year, Reggie McKenzie could try and make a major deal. McKenzie is in danger of losing his job and that could lead to him trying to pull something at the deadline, but it's looking like all sides will stand pat. Last year there were major rumors and only one trade ended up going down and this year it's shaping up to be more of the same.
