Larry Fitzgerald Gets New Deal From Arizona Cardinals

The Arizona Cardinals give Larry Fitzgerald a four-year deal with the last two-years voided

Months of speculation.  Months of rumors.  Months of debate.  All of that came to and end on Wednesday morning as Arizona Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald has agreed to a new contract worth $11 million per year.

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Now, the debate may not end with some.  I’ve already seen people complain about the money Fitz will be making over the next two- years of a four-year contract.  The last two years were voided for proration of previous contracts according to Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic and azcentral.com.

That makes sense but I’m not even going to begin to figure it all out and spell it all out year by year.  What I will say is that I’m glad this issue is now behind all of us.

What this means is that the Cardinals will save about $13 million on the salary cap for next year.  If no new deal had been arranged, the Cardinals were on the hook for almost $24 million for Fitz next season.  That just couldn’t happen, no matter what Fitz’s production was or projected to be.

I know a lot of Cardinals fans are very happy he remains with the team.  However as I previously stated some are still not happy that the Cardinals are keeping him.  For the life of me I don’t know why?  No, he’s not the receiver he was in his early years but he still produces.  He can still leap and grab balls out of mid-air.  He has turned into a great possession receiver.  He fights for every yard.  That’s the kind of guy I want on my side.

Some think this is a public relations move.  Sure, no doubt this helps the PR of the franchise but this isn’t just a PR move.  He still had 63 receptions for 784 yards on a team that has multiple targets capable of dozens of receptions.  Some see his two touchdowns as a lack of production.  Not all of that is Fitz’s fault though.

What I remember from the 2014 season is his 80-yard touchdown.  He caught it short and ran the rest of the way outrunning the defense down the sidelines against the Philadelphia Eagles.  That didn’t look like a guy that couldn’t produce anymore.  Say what you want but this was both a good move relations and personnel wise.