Larry Fitzgerald Signs $40 Million Deal

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When I spoke with Arizona Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt and GM/VP of Football Ops Rod Graves at the NFL Scouting Combine last month, both said they absolutely wanted wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald to remain with the team. And when I talked with Larry a week later at the Arnold Sports Festival Expo, he agreed wholeheartedly. He wanted to remain an Arizona Cardinal. Today, all the speculation of a potential trade was put to rest. Larry accepted a four-year, $40 million contract with the Cards. Of that amount, $30 million is guaranteed. The contract also includes a no-trade clause, which means Larry would have to approve any move to another team.

The Cards wanted to restructure Larry’s incentive-laden rookie contract because he had reached many of the benchmarks and was to receive $14.6 million in 2008 and just under $17.4 million in 2009. Were they surprised? I wasn’t. But those figures left the team with hardly any room under the salary cap to sign free agents. In addition, the contract locks up Larry through 2011, when he will be only 28 years old.

Arizona now has arguably the best wide receiver duo in the NFL with Anquan Boldin opposite Larry. But I can tell you this. Anquan will be looking for a similar deal in the not-too-distant future. Over the past three seasons, he has more catches and yards than Larry and he’s scheduled to be making between seven and eight million dollars less over the next three.