Cardinals Intend For Larry Fitzgerald To Stay With Organization

Dec 21, 2014; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Cardinals quarterback Ryan Lindley (14) and Larry Fitzgerald (11) in the second quarter against the Seattle Seahawks at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Fans of Larry Fitzgerald remaining in an Arizona Cardinals uniform can rejoice, at least for the time being.

Shortly before the Cardinals game against the Seahawks on Sunday night, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported that the team won’t release Fitzgerald during this upcoming offseason.

According to Florio’s report, Fitz could be traded, his deal could be restructed, like it was this past summer, or he could negotiate a new extension. Fitzgerald is scheduled to have a cap hit of $23.6 million in 2015, which is why many of speculated about the receiver’s future with the organization over the long haul.

During his weekly radio interview on the Doug and Wolf show on Monday, Cardinals general manager Steve Keim all but confirmed Florio’s report.

"“I don’t think it’s any secret that we’ve said all along it’s our intent to have Larry Fitzgerald retire a Cardinal,” Keim said. “I don’t want to get into it too deep, but with planning purposes, financially, from a cap standpoint, all those sorts of things, we have Larry’s number already baked into our numbers.”"

With the history between the two sides, a restructure seems like the most likely of the three. During the interview, Keim did mention that he’s had “ongoing talks” with Fitzgerald’s agent regarding another restructured deal.

Currently in his 11th year in the NFL, Fitzgerald has 61 receptions, 755 receiving yards and two touchdowns on the season. A few weeks back, the former Pitt product came the youngest receiver in league history to reach 900 receptions, one of many milestones he has set in what should be a hall of fame career.

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The Cardinals experienced what life could look like earlier on this season when Fitz went down with a knee injury. During those two games, which were both losses, the Cardinals offense struggled to move the football. Fitzgerald could use to his advantage in contract negotiations.

One thing is crystal clear and that cap number of Fitzgerald has to go down come 2015. There aren’t too many players in the league who have that high of a number, especially a guy who has not had 1,000 receiving yards in a season going on his third straight year.

The salary cap will go up once again in 2015, but not by a whole lot. In today’s era of the NFL, it’s impossible to put together a complete roster when you have one lone guy making that much money. Arizona will have some holes to fill on their roster too.

However, it’s hard to see the Cardinals without Fitzgerald on their roster come next season.

During those two games where he sat, Fitzgerald proved that he’s still a valuable asset on the football field and it goes without saying how huge he is off of it. It’s hard to believe there’s ever been an athlete more beloved than Fitzgerald. If he wanted to, he could run for political office regardless of party affiliation and win in a landslide.