courtesy of mlive.com
News broke today that the Arizona Cardinals had agreed to a new 2-year contract with WR Larry Fitzgerald. We use the term “breaking news” to describe information that has just been reported to the public, but there’s nothing breaking about a veteran player with declining numbers, resigning with a team he has played for since the start of his career. However, when I read this news today, it gave me pause. It is rare in today’s world of free agency for a player to spend his entire career with one team, and here’s a guy who, for the second time, could be questioned for doing so.
Larry Fitzgerald is an interesting case study in how players weigh statistics, money, loyalty, and winning. In 2011, Fitzgerald, widely considered one of the top 5 WRs in football, signed a monster deal with the Cardinals for 7 years and $113 million. Coming off of four consecutive 1,000 yard seasons with at least 90 receptions in each, the big pay day seemed warranted; however there was a great deal of criticism heaped on the star wideout for inking the deal. The overwhelming narrative was that Fitzgerald only cared about the money.
He was coming off of a (slightly) down year, the first year without Hall of Fame QB Kurt Warner slinging him the ball since his rookie season. He had lost his running mate, Anquan Boldin the year before and there was great uncertainty around the future of the club. So it seemed that rather than caring about winning or helping his team get better, Fitzgerald wanted to take the money while he still could. That very well may have been the case; and far be it for me to begrudge an athlete for taking the money that’s coming to him. But perhaps Fitzgerald simply wanted to stay in Arizona. And perhaps he was excited about the acquisition of future disappointment Kevin Kolb, a “real” quarterback. Whatever the motivations were, the deal and its timing became an important footnote to track going forward.
With today’s news, we notate Fitzgerald’s career decisions once again. It’s been a tough three year stretch for the veteran, not having recorded more than 82 receptions or reach the 1,000 yard mark in any season. While he did manage 10 TD receptions in 2013, he combined for just 6 TDs in the other two years. Since the departure of Kurt Warner after the 2009 season, the Cardinals have trotted out eight different quarterbacks with only Carson Palmer playing all 16 games in any one season (2013). With the carousel of quarterbacks and a litany of no-name #2 receivers, who have been unsuccessful in drawing attention away from Fitzgerald, it would be easy to understand if Larry decided to hang it up, or push for a trade to a more receiver-friendly situation. Instead, he and the Cardinals have agreed to a new deal that keeps the franchise leader in every receiving category in Arizona for likely the end of his Hall of Fame worthy career.
If Fitzgerald retired today, he would rank 19th all time in receptions, 21st all time in receiving yards, and 12th all time in receiving touchdowns. If he strings together a strong 2015 season, he could end the year very close (if not above) 1,000 career receptions and 100 career TDs, numbers that will help ensure that his likeness is on a plaque in Canton someday. Imagine for a moment though, if he had made different choices during those pivotal moments of his career. What would those numbers look like if he had spent the past four seasons in New Orleans, Green Bay, Dallas, or Atlanta? Could he have been the difference maker in San Francisco, Chicago, or San Diego and led those teams to a Championship? Sure, these possibilities are hypothetical (though it would be an interesting exercise to see how may teams could’ve afforded Fitzgerald from a cap perspective), but for a guy with that kind of talent to finish his career outside the top 10 in all important measurables seems not quite right.
When his playing days come to an end, will we look back on Larry Fitzgerald as one of the top 10 receivers to ever play the game? Or will we get bogged down by his above-average-but-not-all-time-great statistics? The day will come, several years from now, when his name appears on the Hall of Fame ballot and these questions will be asked. The answers will serve not only as a judgment of his football career, but also, possibly, of his decision making.
