Larry Fitzgerald expected to sign Cardinals extension
Larry Fitzgerald is expected to soon sign a one-year contract extension with the Arizona Cardinals, a source informed of the situation told NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport.
The new deal would keep the veteran wide receiver under contract through the 2018 season. Pro Football Talk first reported the development.
Fitzgerald has continued to be a steady, high-level performer for a Cardinals offense that has been significantly hampered by injuries to Carson Palmer and David Johnson. At 34, he's on pace for a third consecutive 1,000-yard season. Last week, he became the sixth player in NFL history to push past 15,000 career receiving yards.
Heading into Sunday's game against the Houston Texans, Fitzgerald has caught 60 passes for 677 yards and three touchdowns in 2017.
Fitzgerald closing in on an extension with the Cardinals comes as somewhat of surprise since the 10-time Pro Bowler was contemplating the possibility of retirement last offseason. However, in July, Fitzgerald told NFL Network's Steve Wyche he wasn't ready to retire.
"I can still play at a high level," Fitzgerald said. "If my number is called I can still make a play."
Fitzgerald has certainly proved that. The big question remains what changes could come to the desert this offseason? Palmer's injury spurred talk of the possible end of the Palmer-Fizgerald-Bruce Arians era in Arizona. At 4-5, the Cardinals are sitting dangerously close to missing the playoffs again, and changes could be in the cards.
Giving Fitzgerald an extension will at least give the Cardinals some certainty -- and insurance -- in their passing game.
Larry Fitzgerald expected to sign Cardinals extension - NFL.com
Here's a more "Fitzy" one
Fitz closes in on contract extension
Posted by Darren Urban on November 16, 2017 – 5:25 pm
Multiple reports — first by Pro Football Talk — have Larry Fitzgerald closing in on a one-year contract extension with the Cardinals. (Pure coincidence, by the way, that I happened to touch on Fitz’s future — and his lack of a contract — this morning.) It’s no secret that retirement has begun to be a possibility for the wide receiver. Whether that has become less of a possibility for Fitz, I can’t say. He’s been steadfast in saying he will consider such things when the season is over.
What this move does tell me though is that the Cardinals want to make sure that if Fitz does decide to play in 2018, it is as a Cardinal. They made a similar move much earlier last year — training camp in 2016, for the one-year extension for 2017 — to get that certainty. You don’t want to be in a situation when the contract expires in the spring and Fitz doesn’t have a contract in place and he is a free agent. The Cardinals — and ownership — want to make sure Fitz stays right here as long as he is playing. We’ll see if the news comes out Friday. It would make some sense.
http://blog.azcardinals.com/2017/11/16/fitz-closes-in-on-contract-extension/