Fitz Deal: 4 years, $40 million (Done!!!)

[daytripper]

WOW!! Great news, and with Grimm apparently not going anywhere our need for Faneca or another high dollar FA O lineman is diminished. The draft, some depth FA signings, and another year in the system and we'll be on our way to a long run at the crown.

 

[Darth Llama]

I'm not going to get into the whole Graves debate, that's a tired topic with me. I think he's doing a good job so far, but I'm still reserving judgment. I think it's only fair to give him the entire off season before I make my decision. It was pointed out on another forum however, that last season, even with all our injuries, we're a couple missed FG's and one fall in the end zone from being 11-5. We're a better team then our record shows, and with the off season to get healthy and develop more discipline, as well as build some depth through FA and the Draft, we could be a very good football team next season.

As for Fitz, I will admit I have lost some respect for him, but I'm glad he's remaining a Cardinal. As long as he wears Cardinal Red, he'll have my support, and I'll continue to cheer for him. I do commend the organization for holding to their commitment of keeping the core of this team together.

 

[CardinalChris]

Oh dear God.. Please never post this pic again..

That picture looks like a really bad Old Navy Commercial

 

[RugbyMuffin]

In all fairness, I dont think Rugby is a big Graves supporter. That would be 40, Skkorp, nidan and some others. Rugby is a Cardinal lover who is drunk off koolaid 110% of the time IMO.

I ripped right now.



When I am really "jones-ing" for it I just eat the powder mix!

Oh, and CMD I take back my Fitzgerald blocking comment.....your right....for the fact that I watched some tape last night and well...............

 

[RugbyMuffin]

Respond to that, Rugby. Or any other of you Graves lemmings.

Let's see........

Nope I got nothing.

I will jump on the "what the he!!?" bandwagon and wonder why Fitz, and his agent realized that a 4 year deal is what the Cardinals should have been looking at to begin with. I don't understand the 7 year deal and why it was that important. Parting ways with a 29 year old WR when you have a running game is easier than parting ways with a 24 year and having no offense to fall back onto.

I hate team's without a game plan. Whiz wants a hard nosed run attack offense with a nasty defence. We certainly don't have that now, but in four years we might. In four year our star WR's are both going to be free agents. At that point we better be setup for a power running game, and our defense (all 16 of them ) better be much better than they are now.

I have a thread questioning why Graves hasn't brought in ANYONE. I am not suggesting we need some 50 mil vets to be brought in but with 16 guys on defence.....well that says it all.

 

[Stout]

I'm not going to get into a hate war on here, but in fairness to some of the over-the-top haters, Graves did botch this situation. He didn't want to give up a 4-year deal before free agency, so he held tight, stuck to his guns, and...ended up caving in completely anyway. Well, not only did the cap savings come too late to be of any use, but he looks bad on top of it for standing firm but then caving anyway afterwards. I would be rip-roaring mad about this because we lost out on Faneca, but sadly we were never going to go after him in the first place, so this played no part in it. A bad negotiation by Graves that, luckily, didn't kill us. Oh well. I do have an article coming up (as soon as somebody tells me where to send it!) that should clear up my feelings about the off-season thus far.

 

[imaCafan]

I'm not going to get into a hate war on here, but in fairness to some of the over-the-top haters, Graves did botch this situation. He didn't want to give up a 4-year deal before free agency, so he held tight, stuck to his guns, and...ended up caving in completely anyway. Well, not only did the cap savings come too late to be of any use, but he looks bad on top of it for standing firm but then caving anyway afterwards. I would be rip-roaring mad about this because we lost out on Faneca, but sadly we were never going to go after him in the first place, so this played no part in it. A bad negotiation by Graves that, luckily, didn't kill us. Oh well. I do have an article coming up (as soon as somebody tells me where to send it!) that should clear up my feelings about the off-season thus far.

The one concession Graves did not make was a huge 4th year salary, which would have meant we would be doing this again in 3 years. At least that is something........

 

[Duckjake]

One thing we need to keep in mind in looking to the future and contract extensions, free agent signings etc. is that the Cards have $28,860,000 in cap space this season used on 5 guys who will be 29 or older before the end of October this year.

James,Wilson,Gandy,Okeafor,and Warner.

 

[WisconsinCard]

I'm not going to get into a hate war on here, but in fairness to some of the over-the-top haters, Graves did botch this situation. He didn't want to give up a 4-year deal before free agency, so he held tight, stuck to his guns, and...ended up caving in completely anyway. Well, not only did the cap savings come too late to be of any use, but he looks bad on top of it for standing firm but then caving anyway afterwards. I would be rip-roaring mad about this because we lost out on Faneca, but sadly we were never going to go after him in the first place, so this played no part in it. A bad negotiation by Graves that, luckily, didn't kill us. Oh well. I do have an article coming up (as soon as somebody tells me where to send it!) that should clear up my feelings about the off-season thus far.

I'm not so sure this is correct. We know that Fitz and his agent were dead set on a 4 year deal, but to say Graves caved may not be true. They could have been asking for for $ in that 4 years they could have been asking for all of it to be guaranteed, we just don't know and probably never will. I would assume that both parties had to make some consessions to get the deal that we see now done.

 

[ajcardfan]

I'm not so sure this is correct. We know that Fitz and his agent were dead set on a 4 year deal, but to say Graves caved may not be true. They could have been asking for for $ in that 4 years they could have been asking for all of it to be guaranteed, we just don't know and probably never will. I would assume that both parties had to make some consessions to get the deal that we see now done.

Graves made the bigger concession. But, Somers said, in his blog, that Parker conceded on the salary in year 4. He wanted a big jump, which would've made it a 3 year deal really. The deal is a straight 4-year deal.

 

[AZCB34]

Nice work Graves...you did the bare minimum or your job and were 2 weeks late but at least the deal got done.

Kudos.

 

[az240zz]

two weeks late, how about 5 months late. This deal could have been done in November 2007!!!

 

[40yearfan]

two weeks late, how about 5 months late. This deal could have been done in November 2007!!!

I don't know why people keep saying this. What on earth would make Fitz want to renegotiate a contract if he didn't have a starting point? And if he did negotiate, would he have accepted any less than what he just got?

This just doesn't make sense.

 

[HookemCards]

I don't know why people keep saying this. What on earth would make Fitz want to renegotiate a contract if he didn't have a starting point? And if he did negotiate, would he have accepted any less than what he just got?

This just doesn't make sense.

We knew and he knew about the incentives when the PB rosters where announced. When is that? early December? Think thats the point. I don't recall hearing anything about starting negotiations in Dec or even Jan. for that matter.

 

[40yearfan]

We knew and he knew about the incentives when the PB rosters where announced. When is that? early December? Think thats the point. I don't recall hearing anything about starting negotiations in Dec or even Jan. for that matter.

Negotiations did start in January in earnest. Some on here though are questioning why they didn't start in Sept. of 2007 and this was in response to why they didn't start in Nov. of 2007.

Twern't possible.

 

[HookemCards]

Negotiations did start in January in earnest. Some on here though are questioning why they didn't start in Sept. of 2007 and this was in response to why they didn't start in Nov. of 2007.

Twern't possible.

If they started in January thats fine, but I don't recall ever reading anything aobut it happening then

 

[40yearfan]

If they started in January thats fine, but I don't recall ever reading anything aobut it happening then

Here's an exerpt from an article written by Kent Somers dated Feb. 8, 2007. It states the Cards had already made an offer to Fitz:

The Cardinals have made an offer to Parker, who did not respond to interview requests.

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/cardinals/articles/0208cardsfree.html

Here's an article from the Tribune dated Jan. 29, 2008 that says talks are on-going:

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/107627

Talks are ongoing, but Fitzgerald says he hasn’t heard anything.

 

[DaisyCutter]

There's tons of contract minutiae for those who are interested in the Fitz negotiations on Somer's Blog: http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/KentSomers/19087

 

[40yearfan]

There's tons of contract minutiae for those who are interested in the Fitz negotiations on Somer's Blog: http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/KentSomers/19087

Good post DC. I found this very interesting:

*Fitzgerald has signed two deals in the NFL. His rookie deal paid him $12.5 million in signing and option bonuses. This one pays him $20 million, reportedly.

*I say reportedly because the numbers sometimes change when the actual contract particulars came out. The figures we're getting now are from various sources, and often there is more than one way to interpret contracts. Some agents, for instance, count roster bonuses as guaranteed money when, technically, they are not.

 

[DaisyCutter]

Good post DC. I found this very interesting:

Oh. You didn't find this part the most interesting?

*If a winner has to be declared in this deal, I think it's Fitzgerald. The Cardinals orginally wanted a six-year deal, then went down to five. Fitzgerald's agent, Eugene Parker, wanted four all along. As we know, it's a four-year deal.

I'm teasing. I think that everyone wins in this deal. Fitz probably came out a little bit ahead, but no one trounced anyone else on this deal.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

I agree with you for the most part... Should've been 5yr. deal IMO...

I honestly think Q wil out perform Fitz over the next couple of seasons and I don't think the Cards will pony up this kind of contract again. We'll see, but I will really be sad if the team loses Q...

Ify IMO, Q, has shown to be injury prone, I think it's because of the very style he plays. Q will continue endure himself to the fans more than Fitz with some tough YAK and hits, but only at the expense of his career, in the end I think Fitz will continue to improve and potentially be the best WR in the game. Boldin much like the great RB's who take similar beatings will begin his decline in the next 2 years. Boldin better get his soon.

P.S. I don't really think losing any WR would have that much of an impact on results. As great as Q is as an individual, he doesn't win games that often. WR's are more like that last piece of the pzzle for winning teams, unfortunately for the cardinals they are the first and only.

 

[Pariah]

Q will continue endure himself to the fans more than Fitz with some tough YAK and hits,

I don't know if Boldin can endure that style of play...that's why he gets hurt.



endear

:BIM:

 

[Treesquid PhD]

I don't know if Boldin can endure that style of play...that's why he gets hurt.



endear

:BIM:

are you hitting on me?

 

[40yearfan]

Oh. You didn't find this part the most interesting?




I'm teasing. I think that everyone wins in this deal. Fitz probably came out a little bit ahead, but no one trounced anyone else on this deal.

Wormhead

On a more serious note did you notice the point I highlighted? He is saying only $20 mil of Fitz's contract is guaranteed, not the $30 mil that we thought. $10 mil is a great big difference. I think that really balances out the whole contract and makes it more of a 50-50 win deal.