Schefter: Fitz & Cards closing in on new deal - Contract Signed!!!

[Cbus cardsfan]

Chopper and K9 are correct. Fitz would never had seen $22M over two years from any other team in the league. To me it was making the best of a bad situation. Fitz can still be productive and he gets a load of guaranteed money and the Cardinals get huge cap relief and not have dead money on the cap if Fitz was cut.

Agree. He may have gotten to 22 mill by hitting incentives but no way he was getting 22 mill guaranteed. I'm still fine with deal.

 

[az jam]

The new league (free agency) starts on March 10. Getting the Fitz deal done was critical and the first priority. Lots of work still needs to be done for the Cards to be a player in free agency. Watch for announcements from the Cardinals (Keim) over the next several weeks on contract restructures and players cut.

 

[BigRedRage]

source is real... and in due time say a month from now i can tell the full story..

thats what you said last time.

 

[Stout]

Now to Stout's comment, Fitz was smart enough to realize he was never truly gonna see what his contract numbers were the rest of the 4yrs. But he was willing to take what he was "going to" make this year, guaranteed over this year and next. Because that was what he felt was a fair paycut....a bit above what he would get on the open market, but a big enough cut that he would help the Cards out significantly and stay here.

Exactly. It technically is a pay cut, but since he knew he wasn't getting all that money, he took the fair pay cut. Well said.

Hahaha no, have a close friend in common....so have known him for a while because of that. Really only see him during the offseason, and very often when he isn't training. Just a few texts here and there during the season though....although I will suggest the Jimmy Johns idea.

Maybe like a Jimmy Johns ASFN lunch, and each week we have a drawing for who gets to come along?

I didn't know we had a kind of insider here. Cool beans.

 

[82CardsGrad]

**** dude, really? He was 16M if we cut him nooooooooooooooooo. So instead we get his 800 yards (more with carson) and 13M in cap relief.



Oh, go back to Madden already.

Seriously!!!

 

[82CardsGrad]

it has nothing to do with fitz why i can't say it now it will effect the person that told me the original story

Can't believe you're still pushing this crap.... LMAO!

 

[NJCardFan]

11mill guaranteed for a guy who cant even hit 800 yards nooooooooooooo

3 things. #1, he was 16 whole yards away from 800. #2, with the exception of 6 games, he had to contend with Stanton, Thomas, and Lindley throwing at him. #3, he missed 2 games due to injury. Get over yourself.

 

[Chopper0080]

Ok, so some folks are taking what I said and applying it the wrong way.

First, this was a win for both sides. The Cardinals were able to avoid huge amounts of dead money, another roster need, and public scrutiny. Fitzgerald was able to get more money than he would have anywhere else, and most of it is guaranteed. He got a $22 mil check at 32 years old, and in two years is in a position to get more guaranteed money if he wants or hang it up. Both sides got what they wanted here.

Second, in terms of putting the Cardinals over a barrell, he has won every negotiation he has had with the team. He has used every contract to create future leverage with the team, and put the team in a position where it has to give him more guaranteed money. Don't get me wrong, this only works if Larry is productive and an asset to the team, and Larry started the entire process by hitting every escalator on his rookie deal. Larry is 32 years old and this will be his fourth deal essentially. That is only done by very smart negotiations, and using every ounce of leverage you have.

Hopefully that clears things up. I am happy the Cardinals were able to keep Fitzgerald.

 

[kerouac9]

Sure...football reason. But CAP HIT reason, for this year alone 11M each two vs 23 in this one (or 16M in dead money and no production), it's a no brainer. Cards got a freaking STEAL given what they had dedicated to him dead or alive, and get him cap spread for two years for the cap price of one, with the production.

Steal of the century, IMO. A hell of a good deal on Keim's part, and good to not lowball Larry because he knows the deal too. Larry gets a pretty sweet payday with the guarantee 22M, vs less in the current deal and potentially same in a 3 year deal elsewhere.

Just great work by the team, and great desire by the player. Really happy with the way this one went down. I had little doubt he'd leave but didn't expect to really help the cap so much.

I think it's premature to think or talk about Fitz's cap hit coming down to $11M in 2015. I admit that I haven't been obsessively following the contract details, but if he's getting $11M guaranteed the next two years, with 2 voidable years in 2017-8 to extend exisiting cap charges, I think his cap hold is going to be more like $14-16M.

IMO, Karlos Dansby and John Abraham were legitimate "steals." This was significant damage control well done.

 

[MadCardDisease]

Chopper and K9 are correct. Fitz would never had seen $22M over two years from any other team in the league. To me it was making the best of a bad situation. Fitz can still be productive and he gets a load of guaranteed money and the Cardinals get huge cap relief and not have dead money on the cap if Fitz was cut.

Yep. Totally agree. Rod Graves left Keim with a ton of lemons and Keim has found a way to turn those lemons into some pretty damn good lemonade.

I couldn't be happier with how this all turned out. One of the biggest keys was getting Fitz's contract fixed way before FA started. Now Keim can concentrate on Dockett.

 

[Chopper0080]

Yep. Totally agree. Rod Graves left Keim with a ton of lemons and Keim has found a way to turn those lemons into some pretty damn good lemonade.

I couldn't be happier with how this all turned out. One of the biggest keys was getting Fitz's contract fixed way before FA started. Now Keim can concentrate on Dockett.

I'm guessing the conversation will be similar as will the extension. A bit more money than he would get on the open market, most of it guaranteed, and over a short period of time to limit risk.

 

[cardncubfan]

**** dude, really? He was 16M if we cut him nooooooooooooooooo. So instead we get his 800 yards (more with carson) and 13M in cap relief.

Oh, go back to Madden already.

 

[MadCardDisease]

source is real... and in due time say a month from now i can tell the full story..

i don't know any of you whats my point for your attention hahaha for 33 years of age you are stupid lol

not like you even know who i am... i get nothing out of making up a story.

I believe you know someone in the organization. A lot of people here have people that they know within the Cardinals organization. I have known a few players over the years and have had candid discussions with them. I also know a couple of friends who are staff members employed by the Cardinals as well.

I think everyone's biggest issue with your post is that you came on here and posted a thread with the title "Fitz is Gonzoooooooooooooo". You didn't provide a source (which I understand), but your source ended up being wrong at least according to the title that you chose.

 

[82CardsGrad]

I think it's premature to think or talk about Fitz's cap hit coming down to $11M in 2015. I admit that I haven't been obsessively following the contract details, but if he's getting $11M guaranteed the next two years, with 2 voidable years in 2017-8 to extend exisiting cap charges, I think his cap hold is going to be more like $14-16M.

IMO, Karlos Dansby and John Abraham were legitimate "steals." This was significant damage control well done.

What we know is that via this new deal, the Cards saved $13 million in cap hit. We also know that Fitz's cap hit prior to the new deal was $24.5 million. I might be missing something, but that seems to create a new cap hit of $11.5 million... No?

 

[kerouac9]

What we know is that via this new deal, the Cards saved $13 million in cap hit. We also know that Fitz's cap hit prior to the new deal was $24.5 million. I might be missing something, but that seems to create a new cap hit of $11.5 million... No?

Overthecap.com says that his pending cap charge was $23.6M before the deal.

Overthecap.com analysis of Fitz's "old" deal

Of that $23.6M, $7.35M was pro-rated bonus that had already been paid, and to the best of my understanding can't be moved to later years.

He's only on the books for $3.65M in 2015?

 

[MadCardDisease]

Overthecap.com says that his pending cap charge was $23.6M before the deal.

Overthecap.com analysis of Fitz's "old" deal

Of that $23.6M, $7.35M was pro-rated bonus that had already been paid, and to the best of my understanding can't be moved to later years.

He's only on the books for $3.65M in 2015?

Didn't they give him a new signing bonus that is stretched out over 4 years? So if they just gave him say an $11M signing bonus that would only count about $2.75M this year. Then add $1M salary or so would make it close to $3.75M for this year? The maybe next year that salary bumps up to around $8-9M + $2.75M from signing bonus?

So then after the first two years of this new contract there would stiil be about $5.5M of dead money left?

 

[wa52lz]

Didn't they give him a new signing bonus that is stretched out over 4 years? So if they just gave him say an $11M signing bonus that would only count about $2.75M this year. Then add $1M salary or so would make it close to $3.75M for this year? The maybe next year that salary bumps up to around $8-9M + $2.75M from signing bonus?

So then after the first two years of this new contract there would stiil be about $5.5M of dead money left?

Sportstrac had the original 2015 number @ $23.6. It shows the new contract being 4yrs, last two are voidable, with $2.35 million carry over each year from last year's restructure bonus. It does not have salary number's included, but this year also shows a $2,000,000 signing bonus, so with out the salary the cap hit is $4.35. I cant tell if that $2 million is a carry over from the old contract so it will be an additional $11 mil or if it's part of the new contract and the salary will be $9 mil. It looks like the hit will be $13.35 or $15.35 mil, depending on what that $2 mil bonus is from. But of course who really know, right?
http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/arizona-cardinals/larry-fitzgerald/

 

[82CardsGrad]

Overthecap.com says that his pending cap charge was $23.6M before the deal.

Overthecap.com analysis of Fitz's "old" deal

Of that $23.6M, $7.35M was pro-rated bonus that had already been paid, and to the best of my understanding can't be moved to later years.

He's only on the books for $3.65M in 2015?

Don't know... But what I do know is that his new deal brought a $13 million cap savings.

 

[TimTheToolmanTebow]

**** dude, really? He was 16M if we cut him nooooooooooooooooo. So instead we get his 800 yards (more with carson) and 13M in cap relief.

Oh, go back to Madden already.

if this was madden fitz would only get a 4mill contract because his rating would be <85

 

[don7031]

There was a video on NFL.com on the resigning of Fitz. They were showing his catches from this past season. What really struck me was how poorly the balls were thrown. Especially when compared to what we saw from Brady in the Super Bowl.

 

[Darkside]

There was a video on NFL.com on the resigning of Fitz. They were showing his catches from this past season. What really struck me was how poorly the balls were thrown. Especially when compared to what we saw from Brady in the Super Bowl.

Sure, but Tom Brady is one of the best QBs who ever lived. I'd argue that maybe the next top 5 are some of the best ever too, given the new rules. Brady is boss though, he's simply one of the best ever, if not the best ever.

 

[BirdMan21]

I thought it was so you wouldnt make crazy bets about Brian Hernandez having a better 2012 then Andre Roberts or Early Doucet. I still have $20 coming from that
http://www.arizonasportsfans.com/vb...sday-177597-9.html?&highlight=brian+hernandez

I missed this post by you first time through....and even though I can't get the link to come up, that bet wouldn't surprise me one bit.

Let me know how you'd best like this bet settled, I hate not having paid out on a bet I made.