Strike Me Dead….But Trade Fitz Now!

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It’s taken seven (7) games, one game short of my target decision date, but my beloved Cardinals have sufficiently convinced me that it’s time to move Larry Fitzgerald out of the desert. No emotion whatsoever, just the business realization that the Cardinals will suck for the remainder of the year and only have one real asset on the books that the so-called “brain trust†can do something with in the future. Trading Fitz almost feels like a mortal sin, but the Cards realistically have no other options that make any sense afforded to them.

Looking at Fitz’s numbers over the past 2 to 2 ½ years are misleading and I’m confident that anyone with a football IQ greater than zero knows this. All the Cards have done is march inferior O-Lineman and inferior QB’s onto the field to act in a supporting cast for Fitz. That in itself is troubling. Never being the one to say anything negative about a teammate or the organization, I’ll help you out, Larry. “Get me the heck out of hereâ€.

The only promise for the 2013 season and a resurrection of a fantastic career was the signing of Carson Palmer. Previous to that, I don’t recall the Cards even dressing a QB after the departure of Kurt Warner. All I do know is that Palmer has lost some serious skills in his decision-making process, physical skills in accurately delivering the ball and that he plays in fear with that Kleenex front line standing in front of him. Sprinkle in a running game, err standing game, that produces little and what you’re left with is one of the best wide receivers in the NFL split out to the side daydreaming of better days gone by.

The Hard Cold Facts

Larry Fitzgerald is thirty (30) years old and still possessing mad skills, but the sands of the hourglass keep on keeping’ on. The Cardinals may think the future is bright with the likes of Fitz & Floyd on the payroll but we have no quarterback standing in the wings ready to replace an already ineffective QB. The offensive line continues to be offensive and there isn’t any sign that a RB on the roster could break 1,000 yards if we played against teams with only 9 players on defense. All told, the Cards have a decent defense and Larry Fitzgerald (and maybe Michael Floyd), but that’s about it. The man still has a tremendous amount of game and some contender might be able to pony up some valuable draft picks (esp. now that we lost that conditional draft spot with Levi Brown going down before playing one down in Pittsburgh) plus help the Cards clear a chunk from the books.

In 2011 the Cards signed Fitz to an 8-year $120 million deal making him the 5th highest paid player in the NFL. A hefty price tag indeed for someone to pay, but I’m guessing Fitz would be more than willing to do whatever structuring is necessary to get a deal done. We’re talking about one of the premier WR’s in the NFL possibly going to a team that would have an immediate impact on any playoff run. Imagine Peyton Manning or Tom Brady throwing the ball to Fitz? Hell, I could become a Broncos or Patriots fan to watch that. Accumulating draft picks and freeing cap space are the only things the Cards realistically can accomplish before the trade deadline this year.
At 0-3 in the division and the schedule only becoming more difficult it’s time to think of the future and do the right thing and say good-bye to Larry.

Of course I’d be ill for days knowing that Fitz is playing for someone else, but at the end of the day, so what? At least he would be able to resume his career and possibly get himself a ring. The Cards owe Larry nothing, other than what’s in his contract, but it would be a nice gesture to open the cage door and set the man free. But more importantly, it is the only thing the Cards can do at this point that makes any business sense now and in the immediate future. The only thing I would ask the Cards is if they do decide to move him, move him out of the division. I may be a cold-hearted SOB for even mentioning a Fitz exodus; I just don’t want to be reminded of it any more than I would have to.

 

Absolutely it would take some serious concessions on Fitz's part due to the constraints of his current deal. If in doubt, defer, defer, defer. Would Fitz want to do this? All depends on his goals. But as long as the Cards have this on the books and face having to pay your Patrick Petersons of the world, there's going to be little room to surround him with the talent necessary to even make the playoffs. Why do you think Boldin isn't here any more?
Fitz's willingness to leave and redo his deal and whatever team is a Fitz away from the Big Tamale would be the two partners. Some owner would make sure it got done.

 

My choice as well. Putting NE's record aside, with the caliber of QB they have and their receiving corps less than optimal, Fitz would seem be be a logical for that team. He can run the deep pattern as well as the slants and dinks and dunks as well as Wes Welker. I can also see Robert Kraft making a full court press for Fitz if word got out that the Cards Were shopping him.

 

There you go. There's options out there, it's just a matter of Fitz realistically having to defer or restructure in some other way so that the team picking him up isn't leveraged out of their own cap space for years to come. The only caveat to it all is that Fitzgerald would automatically improve that teams passing attack and if a bona fide contender, make them that much closer to the promised land. Yes, Fitz is 30, but still has a good 5-6 years of shelf life at a high level, the Cards can just ill afford to "build" around him any longer. They've been building since his arrival and with the exception of the miracle 2008 season, have done nothing to secure a winning product any time soon.

 

So the Cards just beat the Texans at home 27-24 and Fitz ended with 3 catches for 21 yards. Right now he's ranked 41st in the NFL for receiving and he's the 2nd highest paid WR.

Because the Cards didn't move Fitz before the trade deadline they're going to be eating tremendous cap hits moving forward. I think it's just great that GM Steve Keim says that Fitz is going to retire a Card to boost his ego and the fans' morale, but not moving Fitz is going to have a serious impact on the Cards' flexibility in resigning core players, signing extensions and in the FA market.

In a couple of years (assuming the Cards keep Fitz) fans will be screaming for management heads as the Cards continue to put a crapty O-Line on the field and losing key players to FA because of Fitz's contract. Like other Cards' fans I like seeing Fitz in a Cards uniform, but the reality of keeping him was and is going to be one of the stupidest things the organization has ever done.

 

Of those two the QB solution is paramount. Yes...he gets his share of double coverage, but that's never going to change.

I've never said anything about Fitz's abilities or anything other than he comes with a price tag. If the Cards have a QB issue and Fitz gets minimal touches because of coverage schemes, Fitz is still on the payroll with $18 million cap hit in 2014. The only way Fitz's numbers improve to justify that kind of hit is to have a Brees, Manning or Brady threading it into that coverage like Warner use to do. Problem is, Cards won't be able to sign someone with half the ability of those three because of a cap squeeze with the largest component being Fitz.

To your point, if the Cards could get lucky and find a QB on the cheap that could connect with receivers in single coverage because of the attention on Fitz, then maybe (Palmer cannot reliably do that right now). Unless something like this happened to justify the Fitz expense, then the Cards will be looking at a $21.25 million double-covered with minimal touches WR and no flexibility to change other problem spots in 2015.

 

Fitz is huge in this community and truly loves living here. There's only one thing he loves more.....a SuperBowl ring. I really don't think he would restructure to stick here when the prospects of a SB aren't the greatest for the remainder of his deal. But he might restructure his deal with a team he thinks is a contender right now, just not here IMO.

 

To entice Fitz to stay and sign an extension they pretty much did that. Some guy by the name of Kevin Kolb. At the time he was a god compared to the QB's we had.