Artice - Cards, Fitzgerald not close to deal

[Syracusecards]

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/cardinals/articles/0222cards.html

 

[ajcardfan]

Rod really has his work cut out on this one. Parker is not going to have any mercy. Thirty-two mill is the STARTING point for guaranteed money in his mind. Then, it's a matter of how many years they want to extend him and he will probably be wanting at LEAST five million per year guaranteed, with incentives again.


The Cards best shot is appealing to Larry directly.

 

[cardsfanmd]

If Larry insists on being paid far more than CJ let him walk right now. I understand his reasoning, but if you wanna win you have to sacrifice. True leaders and/or teamplayers would have aready resolved this. I cant fault the guy for wanting to get the most money for his family, but we ARE NOT and CANNOT be the team that accomodates these types of players. I hate to say it because I love Fitz, but Championship teams dont pay BS like that. If he wants to be part of a winner he will lower his price, if not, let him leave and go make billions with the Falcons or the Redskins.

If we lose Pace because of Fitz my #11 jersey will be on ebay the next day.

 

[Darth Llama]

So far, I'm not impressed with Fitz attitude in this. The Cardinals are not being cheap, they are willing to make him the highest paid WR in football, and Larry knows that the team will be hard pressed to bring in the talent needed to improve without his cooperation. So what's the hold up? Fitz needs to get off his ass and do what's best for the team. Right now he's keeping the team from improving, and that's a problem.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

I predict this is going to be a prolonged negotiation. Graves has shown in the past that he's not good with so-called deadlines and the start of free agency seems to be the dealine in this deal.We've had holdout after holdout in the draft.I don't see why there is any hope this gets done sometime soon. I hope i'm wrong but the Cards seems to get entrenched in what they deem the players value and it takes a while for them to move off of it. The sad thing is the Cards knew all year that this situation,with Pace,Dansby, and Fitz, was looming and weren't proactive in getting things done. They sat around and waited to see IF Dansby played well and healthy all year, IF Pace earned a new contract, IF Fitz made the pro-bowl and his incentives kicked in. Well, they all did and now Graves and Cards are crying about being stuck.They have no sympathy from me. Get off your butts and get something done throughout the year intsead of waiting until March 1. Again this shows how the lack of a legitimate front office person continually keeps this team from taking the next step. The cards hold the players accountable ,why isn't the same expected out of the front office? This is the perfect year to take the next step into true contenders and we're sitting there hamstrung by Fitz's deal.The Cards don't need to make big splash in FA,just sign about 4 key elements and they jump up to NFC contenders.Faneca, Brown ,Carter, and Florence would be a good FA period and,other tha Faneca, wouldn't be costly.

 

[red desert]

This Fitz issue is truly a tough one.

One, I don't think Fitz is worthy of being paid like the top receiver in the NFL because he isn't. He's not even the best reciever on this team. He's very good, but without explosive game breaking ability, I just don't see him as deserving of such a contract. However, his relatively young age does up his stock from where it would otherwise be. But then again, from the outside looking in, I just don't see Fitz's personality being one of leading a team to a super bowl, unlike, say Q, Wilson, Dockett, or even Duece.

Now, should he get his "best in the league" contract, how long until Q demands (and rightfully so) a similar contract? Is there anyway in hell that this team can accomadate two receivers at such a price? Absolutely not. And there is no way I would chose any reciever over Q. None.


I'n not saying I don't want Fitz on this team, I'm just saying the kind of money he is asking for gives me some reason for pause. I would think it does for Graves and the Cards as well.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

So far, I'm not impressed with Fitz attitude in this. The Cardinals are not being cheap, they are willing to make him the highest paid WR in football, and Larry knows that the team will be hard pressed to bring in the talent needed to improve without his cooperation. So what's the hold up? Fitz needs to get off his ass and do what's best for the team. Right now he's keeping the team from improving, and that's a problem.

Why is it Fitz' responsibility to clean up Graves' mess? He's earned his contract, has Graves? Fitz is guaranteed 30+ mill the next two years and the Cards want him to do them a favor. I say,if i'm Fitz, we'll start at 38-40 mill and talk from there. It sound like Graves is thinking in 28-30 mill range(i'm speculating but that what it sounds like) what does Fitz have to gain by accepting that. Graves cites Berry as a "team" guy. Well Berry is taking a re-structure because he'd be out of the league if he didn't,two completely different sitautions.

 

[joeshmo]

So far, I'm not impressed with Fitz attitude in this. The Cardinals are not being cheap, they are willing to make him the highest paid WR in football, and Larry knows that the team will be hard pressed to bring in the talent needed to improve without his cooperation. So what's the hold up? Fitz needs to get off his ass and do what's best for the team. Right now he's keeping the team from improving, and that's a problem.

Them saying he will be the highest paid WR doesnt say a darn thing. It could be another 80 Mill deal with half of it in the last 2 years of the deal just like his rookie deal was. 60+ Mill of which 30 mill of it was the last 2 years of the 6 year deal. Backloading a deal such as that will not make him the highest paid WR in the league. It is all about the up front money and how much they will make in the first half of the deal and if the first half of the deal wont make him the highest paid WR in the league then Graves comment doesnt hold any water. You can offer an 8 year 80 Mill deal but if you are only offering 15 Mill gauranteed in this case then you are being cheap. We dont know the details of what each side has offered or what each side will or will not contest to, so to make an assumption that one side or the other is playing hard ball or being cheap or not cheap is a huge mistake. The article tells me nothing about either side, except Parker has a tendency to wait for last minute deals, which is exactly what will happen this year.

It is not Fitz that is keeping the team from improving it is the Cards who made this deal in the first place and took this long to remedy the issue. It is an issue that should have been remedied last offseason or during the season. If they were banking on Fitz not making the pro bowl to get his incentive then thats just a huge lack in reasoning and foresight. They made the deal, they lived with it to the last minute, and know its time to pay the piper.

Fitz is here in town working out with Matt, out on the practice field every day going through routes with Matt throwing to him. He is working his butt off and does want to be here, he is just letting the usual standard negotiating process take its course so to judge him like this with 7 days left to get a deal done without any knowledge what so ever what the structure of the deals being thrown around is way premature.

Remember that deals do not happen over a weeks or even over a month. They happen within days and in most cases hours. Just look at when most rookie deals are done with 1st rounders, within a day or even hours of a teams training camp starting.

 

[SuperSpck]

I get that football is a get-paid-now sport and it's unfortunate the players have to get paid that way...

but this team is as close as it has been to being a playoff contender in a very long time. They need to make be able to sign (and res-ign) other players to make that last push.

I don't feel, as a fan, that I am willing to be held hostage for Larry Fitzgerald's next multi-million dollar payday.

This isn't a Boldin situation, where Fitz has outplayed his contract. He's been rightly paid and just doing the same deal with a kiss extra should be good enough.

 

[joeshmo]

This isn't a Boldin situation, where Fitz has outplayed his contract. He's been rightly paid and just doing the same deal with a kiss extra should be good enough.

If it were only that easy. There isn't a WR in the league that is worth that much, that includes Boldin, Moss, and so on. I just think spending money on the WR position is one of the worst investment's that a team can make. But the market sets the price and WR's get highly paid for some reason.

 

[40yearfan]

I predict this is going to be a prolonged negotiation. Graves has shown in the past that he's not good with so-called deadlines and the start of free agency seems to be the dealine in this deal.We've had holdout after holdout in the draft.I don't see why there is any hope this gets done sometime soon. I hope i'm wrong but the Cards seems to get entrenched in what they deem the players value and it takes a while for them to move off of it. The sad thing is the Cards knew all year that this situation,with Pace,Dansby, and Fitz, was looming and weren't proactive in getting things done. They sat around and waited to see IF Dansby played well and healthy all year, IF Pace earned a new contract, IF Fitz made the pro-bowl and his incentives kicked in. Well, they all did and now Graves and Cards are crying about being stuck.They have no sympathy from me. Get off your butts and get something done throughout the year intsead of waiting until March 1. Again this shows how the lack of a legitimate front office person continually keeps this team from taking the next step. The cards hold the players accountable ,why isn't the same expected out of the front office? This is the perfect year to take the next step into true contenders and we're sitting there hamstrung by Fitz's deal.The Cards don't need to make big splash in FA,just sign about 4 key elements and they jump up to NFC contenders.Faneca, Brown ,Carter, and Florence would be a good FA period and,other tha Faneca, wouldn't be costly.

From your standpoint of view maybe (see bolded sentence), but a lot of us agree with how it was handled. If this team if ever going to get to the level of a premier team, it is going to take all the participants working together. The players and coaches have to want to win and be willing to make sacrifices to do so. Extra practices, more effort and restructuring outrageous contracts are all part of that effort. Payton Manning had no problem doing that and he was a lot more responsible for the victories the Colts won than Fitz has been in the Cards victories.

Last year everyone was complaining about how the FO was handling the contracts and how they should be more aggressive and back end load contracts and now the FO is catching flack because they back end loaded Fitz's contract. Amazing, simply amazing.

 

[red desert]

If it were only that easy. There isn't a WR in the league that is worth that much, that includes Boldin, Moss, and so on. I just think spending money on the WR position is one of the worst investment's that a team can make. But the market sets the price and WR's get highly paid for some reason.

Couldn't disagree more.

Boldin has absolutely earned his contract, and then some. Moss, too.

 

[imaCafan]

I still think this gets done before FA, say by Thursday mid day. Just not as confident in my thoughts on this as I once was. Seems that they are willing to pay the dough, just need to get the structure (bonus, length, etc.) hammered out. But who knows. Here, let me do this........

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

From your standpoint of view maybe (see bolded sentence), but a lot of us agree with how it was handled. If this team if ever going to get to the level of a premier team, it is going to take all the participants working together. The players and coaches have to want to win and be willing to make sacrifices to do so. Extra practices, more effort and restructuring outrageous contracts are all part of that effort. Payton Manning had no problem doing that and he was a lot more responsible for the victories the Colts won than Fitz has been in the Cards victories.

Last year everyone was complaining about how the FO was handling the contracts and how they should be more aggressive and back end load contracts and now the FO is catching flack because they back end loaded Fitz's contract. Amazing, simply amazing.

People were complaining that Graves gave out roster bonusses insteaed of signing bonusses and it ate up all the cap space.It had nothing to do with backloading. Of course,Graves's reason for doing that was to have plenty of cap space for this year that he is supposedly unable to use because of Fitz. I'm not complaining about Fitz contract. Manning,and all othersin his situation,are not taking less money when they re-structure for a lower cap number. They get more money and just spread it out farther. I get the vibe that people think Fitz should take less money to help out the team. There's not player who's in his sitautiion that would do that and why should they? I'm all for Fitz getting a new contract,say 5/45, and lowering his cap hit. But expecting him to take less money is pretty unreasonable,to me anyway.

 

[imaCafan]

How about a 7-8 year deal with, say, $34 mil. signing bonus with each year growing in salary. Add in a couple of bells and whistles, like PB appearances, # of catches, etc. Should be easy to cut his cap# in half and still keep him happy........

 

[cardsfanmd]

I still think this gets done before FA, say by Thursday mid day. Just not as confident in my thoughts on this as I once was. Seems that they are willing to pay the dough, just need to get the structure (bonus, length, etc.) hammered out. But who knows. Here, let me do this........

I am trying to believe that as well. Fitz has always seemed to be a team player, so I hope this becomes just another example.

 

[az jam]

If Larry insists on being paid far more than CJ let him walk right now. If we lose Pace because of Fitz my #11 jersey will be on ebay the next day.

Are you aware that this CJ is WR Calvin Johnson Lions who signed a huge rookie contract as the number 2 pick in last years draft with a contract guaranteen of $27 million. Fitz's agent feels Fitz should get more as he has made the pro bowl twice in the 4 years with the Cards. I certainly agree.

 

[cardsfanmd]

Are you aware that this CJ is WR Calvin Johnson Lions who signed a huge rookie contract as the number 2 pick in last years draft with a contract guaranteen of $27 million. Fitz's agent feels Fitz should get more as he has made the pro bowl twice in the 4 years with the Cards. I certainly agree.

You didn't read the whole post evidently.

If Larry insists on being paid far more than CJ let him walk right now. I understand his reasoning, but if you wanna win you have to sacrifice. True leaders and/or teamplayers would have aready resolved this. I cant fault the guy for wanting to get the most money for his family, but we ARE NOT and CANNOT be the team that accomodates these types of players. I hate to say it because I love Fitz, but Championship teams dont pay BS like that. If he wants to be part of a winner he will lower his price, if not, let him leave and go make billions with the Falcons or the Redskins
If we lose Pace because of Fitz my #11 jersey will be on ebay the next day..

I never said he didn't deserve the money, I said that championship teams dont shell out bread like that to WRs. If he wants that much money he will have to go to a crap team, ie Atlanta or SF, or someone who just loves to spend money, ie Washington.

I do get the feeling though that you are underestimating Johnson as well. Rookie recievers rarely do much, but this guy is easily the best reciever to come out in a long time. That includes Fitz. He is bigger, faster and his hands are great just like Larry's. Barring a catastrophic injury, he will want more money than Fitz in a few years. I am not saying he is better, but he will be great IMO.

 

[ajcardfan]

It really doesn't mean too much when the Cards say "we made him an offer to be the highest paid WR in the NFL." As it stands now he will be the highest paid WR in the NFL next year anyhow!!!!!

I wish I was a pro athlete and Parker was my agent.

 

[Skkorpion]

schmo's take is dead on. Eugene Parker uses brinkmanship well. Deals can be made in a day or two when the time pressure is on.

Let's see what happens. It is interesting stuff. Something being ignored here is that there is pressure on Fitz too. Players know if a guy is being too selfish, too me me me. And all players care about how they are viewed by their teammates.

 

[CardsGuy]

Graves today on situation

http://azcardinals.com/blog/blog.php?author=1

 

[joeshmo]

Payton Manning had no problem doing that and he was a lot more responsible for the victories the Colts won than Fitz has been in the Cards victories.

Last year everyone was complaining about how the FO was handling the contracts and how they should be more aggressive and back end load contracts and now the FO is catching flack because they back end loaded Fitz's contract. Amazing, simply amazing.

Manning also got over 40 Mill total in gauranteed in his bank account from day one to take his so called pay cuts. Premier players do not take pay cuts for the sake of the team they take them to get more up front money in their bank accounts. For ever restructure that they do they get an equal or greater check made out to them.

As for last statement, not even close to the same scale or the same issue. Signing bonus spread out over the life of the deal vs. roster bonus against the cap in one season, that was the issue and isn't even close to the same issue as back loading. Back loading was never brought up nor an issue. Not to even mention that Fitz backloaded deal is on a completely different scale. half of his 60+ Mill deal was for the last 2 years of the 6 year deal. There is backloading then there is BACKLOADING. Not even sure why I am speaking as if fitz deal was a back loaded deal because it wasn't. It was an incentive laden deal.

 

[joeshmo]

Couldn't disagree more.

Boldin has absolutely earned his contract, and then some. Moss, too.

Where did I say those 2 didn't earn their current contracts. Their contracts arent huge right now. I said they will not have earned the contracts they will end up getting such as Fitz. I would spend more money on QB, RB, OL, DL, LB, and DB before I started shelling out big money to WR's. It just is not a good investment, and history has shown as much.

 

[joeshmo]

just need to get the structure (bonus, length, etc.) hammered out.

That is exactly what is going on. You notice the agent didn't say anything about the total of the deal being out of line. The way I read the article based on the agents statements is that the money is there but the structure is not.

 

[joeshmo]

How about a 7-8 year deal with, say, $34 mil. signing bonus with each year growing in salary. Add in a couple of bells and whistles, like PB appearances, # of catches, etc. Should be easy to cut his cap# in half and still keep him happy........

I think that may be the sticking point. The amount of years. He and his agent may be fighting for a 6 year deal while the Card are trying for a 8 year deal. Fitz is still young enough that if he does a 6 year deal that he can still squeeze out 1 last big pay day at the age of 31. Which would be a smart move on his agents part.