Make Or Break Season Ahead For Michael Floyd
The NFL can be very difficult for young players coming into the league.
Some players get it right away while it takes a few years for others. Some will never get it all and will be on the streets looking for jobs within a few years.
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For Michael Floyd of the Arizona Cardinals, he’s somewhere in between. He has shown flashes of being a dominant receiver in this league, but he has yet to do it on a consistent basis.
When he was drafted in the first round of the 2012 draft, expectations were extremely high for Floyd. Many thought he was eventually going to replace Larry Fitzgerald as the team’s No. 1 receiver, but Floyd has yet to reach that level in his first three seasons in the league.
Despite being buried on the depth chart early on in the season and with brutally bad quarterback play, Floyd managed to still have a nice rookie season. In 16 games, the Golden Domer had 45 receptions for 562 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Floyd really took off during his sophomore campaign. With a healthy Carson Palmer and a new head coach, the receiver had 65 catches and 1,041 yards, the highest total on the team.
With having such a big sophomore season, many were expected for Floyd to have a breakout third year for the Red Birds. Unfortunately, Floyd never took off though having only 47 grabs for 841 yards. Floyd did manage to set a career high in touchdowns with six.
A major reason why Floyd had a disappointing season was thanks in large part due to poor quarterback play, which Bruce Arians recently talked about.
"“I think Mike was a victim of the quarterback situation,” Arians said last month. “And I think some frustration showed in his play sometimes. He still needs to hit a consistency level. He’s a 1,000-yard player. He should have had 1,000 easily. But there were some balls we expect him to come down with and he didn’t come down with and that’s what is holding him down from being elite.”"
Now going into his fourth season in the league, 2015 is going to be a make or break year for Floyd.
The organization has yet to pick up the 2016 option on his contract, which the team has to decide on by May 3. If the option on Floyd’s contract is not picked up, he will be free to sign with any team following this upcoming season.
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This situation is similar to the one the organization had with Patrick Peterson last year. The club did pick up Peterson’s option and then agreed to a long-term extension with their star cornerback.
Given how inconsistent he has been so far in his career, it’s hard to see that happening with Floyd as well. If he does have a good camp and preseason, maybe the two sides could come to an agreement on an extension, but that doesn’t happen on a regular basis.
If the organization doesn’t pick up the option on his contract next week, the very likely scenario is that Floyd will play out the season and then come be an unrestricted free agent once the year comes to an end.
If Floyd does have a monster 2015, it might be tough for general manager Steve Keim to bring him back. Fitzgerald will make a guaranteed $11 million in 2016 and the team is likely to have cap issues elsewhere.
Time will tell us what Floyd’s future is with the Cardinals following the 2015 season. For now, lets hope he has a big season and helps this team win a ton of games in 2015.