The much-discussed contract extension for Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald is finally, officially done, Pro Football Talk is reporting. Fitzgerald announced that he had agreed to the contract almost two weeks ago, but NFL contracts are complex documents, and contracts that guarantee the player $30 million are especially complex, and it took the Cardinals and Fitzgerald's agent more than 10 days to finish the deal after they had agreed on the basic parameters.
And in the mean time, the Cardinals have been handcuffed by the enormous base salary that was on Fitzgerald's previous deal. They were forced to cut special teams ace Sean Morey just to be in compliance with the NFL salary cap, and they missed out on signing Brandon Chillar, a linebacker they wanted to add but who went to Green Bay when Arizona couldn't find room to fit him under its salary cap.
The bottom line is that although the Cardinals have locked up one of the best young players in the league for the next four years, they've done so in a way that shows their front office is not doing a good job of managing its salary cap. There's a reason that even in this age of parity, some teams perpetually miss the playoffs.
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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1. There are some sports teams whose general managers motto is: We are all incompetent.
Posted at 1:21AM on Apr 1st 2008 by George B Vieto
2. This is good for the Cardinals. They really needed to sign Fitzy! He's one of their cluth players and adds alot of energy and depth to the offense! Cardinals have fought through so much last season, especially injuries, so heres to hoping this season will be injury free and Matty can stay healthy i really want to see what this kid can do. Cardinals are a young team with alot to learn, especially disapline since they were one of the most penalized teams in the leauge.
But heres to next year!
Posted at 1:33AM on Apr 4th 2008 by Hykerrr