The Cardinals drafted Larry Fitzgerald with the third overall pick in 2004. Now, 13 years later, Fitzgerald has signed a one-year contract extension. The team announced the extension on Friday.
Larry Fitzgerald signs 1-year extension with Cardinals, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be back next season
Fitzgerald will retire with the team that drafted him.
Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Jeanna Kelley has been covering the Falcons for The Falcoholic since 2011 and the NFL for SB Nation since 2015.
So if Fitzgerald plays next year, he’ll be with the Cardinals. But that’s still up in the air.
The $11 million deal keeps Fitzgerald under contract with the Cardinals through the 2018 season. It was also negotiated by the receiver himself.
Fitzgerald considered retirement after the 2016 season, and who could blame him? Arizona hoped to improve on a 2015 season in which it finished 13-3 and made it to the NFC Championship. It didn’t. The Cardinals went 7-8-1 and missed the playoffs.
Fitzgerald came back for 2017. Now the Cardinals are 4-5 and missing Carson Palmer and David Johnson due to injuries.
Age isn’t slowing Fitzgerald down this season. The 34-year-old receiver has eclipsed 15,000 receiving yards over his career as of Week 10. He has 60 catches for 677 yards and three touchdowns so far this season.
The only thing that’s missing from Fitzgerald’s long list of accolades is a Super Bowl win. He’s had 10 Pro Bowl nods and a first-team and two second-team All-Pro selections. But a Super Bowl probably isn’t in the cards this season.
Arizona is trailing both the Rams and the Seahawks in the NFC West, and injuries will make it hard for the Cardinals to make up ground. Fitzgerald will have to come back next season if he wants another chance at a championship. But that may be a long shot.
David Johnson will be back, but Palmer is 37 and coming off of a broken arm. It’s hard to know how much patience the Cardinals will have with Bruce Arians if the Cardinals don’t finish over .500 again this season. There are too many variables to predict how competitive the Cardinals can be in 2018.
If Fitzgerald does decide to play next season, this extension ensures he’ll be with the Cardinals. But there’s no guarantee Fitzgerald will be back.
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