Bickley: Someone has to give for Larry Fitzgerald to finish his career in Arizona
http://www.azcentral.com/story/spor...otPostID=['4c6166cc1246f6bda8963868cdc3562d']
Larry Fitzgerald isn't just a football player. He's an Arizona monument. You can't just move the Grand Canyon to another state, can you?
Welcome to a gut-wrenching crossroads. There is a rock — Fitzgerald's contract, which calls for an $8 million bonus in March and a salary-cap figure of $23.6 million next season. And there is a hard place, an offensive system that no longer treats Fitzgerald like a Hall of Fame receiver.
Something has to give.
"I don't know if they can solve it," former Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner said. "I think there's no question that Larry would be willing to take less (money) if he felt completely content in the situation. But a guy like Larry doesn't want to be in a diminished role."
Warner's take is accurate. Fitzgerald understands his contract is untenable for a team on the cusp of a Super Bowl. Thus, after compiling a near flawless career, breaking records and banking $120 million of Bidwill money, he must give back what he's negotiated just to stay in Arizona.
But the two years with Bruce Arians haven't been easy on Fitzgerald. He's been asked to block, run a lot of curl patterns and surrender the deep, sideline stuff to Michael Floyd. And for three years before that, he was stuck on the carousel of clown quarterbacks, a figure of national empathy.
A lot of statistics and personal achievement have been left on the table along the way, and with two to three prime years left in his career, Fitzgerald surely wants to go out with a bang.
"I love Larry," Arians said on his Monday radio show. "I think he brings a ton to the table, a lot of energy and a lot of leadership. And the more we have success offensively, the more balls there are to go around. But to think of him in the days of 10 years ago, with 120 catches and all that, I'm sure those days are gone.
"Eighty catches and a big part of the offense? Yeah, he's still a big part of that. You know, he was playing really, really well until he hurt that knee."
The hard data: Fitzgerald was targeted 103 times in 14 weeks. Last season, he was targeted 135 times. In the six years prior, he had never been targeted fewer than 153 times.
Although he was playing at a high level before injuring his knee, he had 46 receptions in 11 weeks, on pace for 67 receptions in a season.
In other words, for this relationship to continue, Fitzgerald will have to give back money. But Arians will have to give more of his offense to Fitzgerald. If there's a press conference in the next six weeks announcing a mutual divorce along with great mutual respect, you'll know that someone wouldn't budge.
That would be a shame.
http://www.azcentral.com/story/spor...otPostID=['4c6166cc1246f6bda8963868cdc3562d']
Larry Fitzgerald isn't just a football player. He's an Arizona monument. You can't just move the Grand Canyon to another state, can you?
Welcome to a gut-wrenching crossroads. There is a rock — Fitzgerald's contract, which calls for an $8 million bonus in March and a salary-cap figure of $23.6 million next season. And there is a hard place, an offensive system that no longer treats Fitzgerald like a Hall of Fame receiver.
Something has to give.
"I don't know if they can solve it," former Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner said. "I think there's no question that Larry would be willing to take less (money) if he felt completely content in the situation. But a guy like Larry doesn't want to be in a diminished role."
Warner's take is accurate. Fitzgerald understands his contract is untenable for a team on the cusp of a Super Bowl. Thus, after compiling a near flawless career, breaking records and banking $120 million of Bidwill money, he must give back what he's negotiated just to stay in Arizona.
But the two years with Bruce Arians haven't been easy on Fitzgerald. He's been asked to block, run a lot of curl patterns and surrender the deep, sideline stuff to Michael Floyd. And for three years before that, he was stuck on the carousel of clown quarterbacks, a figure of national empathy.
A lot of statistics and personal achievement have been left on the table along the way, and with two to three prime years left in his career, Fitzgerald surely wants to go out with a bang.
"I love Larry," Arians said on his Monday radio show. "I think he brings a ton to the table, a lot of energy and a lot of leadership. And the more we have success offensively, the more balls there are to go around. But to think of him in the days of 10 years ago, with 120 catches and all that, I'm sure those days are gone.
"Eighty catches and a big part of the offense? Yeah, he's still a big part of that. You know, he was playing really, really well until he hurt that knee."
The hard data: Fitzgerald was targeted 103 times in 14 weeks. Last season, he was targeted 135 times. In the six years prior, he had never been targeted fewer than 153 times.
Although he was playing at a high level before injuring his knee, he had 46 receptions in 11 weeks, on pace for 67 receptions in a season.
In other words, for this relationship to continue, Fitzgerald will have to give back money. But Arians will have to give more of his offense to Fitzgerald. If there's a press conference in the next six weeks announcing a mutual divorce along with great mutual respect, you'll know that someone wouldn't budge.
That would be a shame.
