Coach wants Fitzgerald to stay in AZ, out of QB decision

In what will likely not go down as the shock of the summer, Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt wants Larry Fitzgerald to stick around for a while.

“Our goal is to have him retire as a Cardinal one day many years from now,” the coach told ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio Wednesday. “And I think we’ve made a lot of progress towards getting that done.”

Granted, any progress from here is stunted by the fact that teams are not even allowed to talk to players during the lockout. Until things are resolved between the league and the players nothing can happen between the Cardinals and Fitzgerald.

But, that doesn’t mean the team’s decisions, what few they can make, aren’t made without thinking of the Pro-Bowler’s future. There were reports that Fitzgerald was being consulted as the team searches for a new quarterback, even going so far as to say he was a fan of Philadelphia’s Kevin Kolb. Whisenhunt said the receiver’s involvement was overblown.

“These guys have opinions and they want to be heard on a number of areas,” Whisenhunt said, saying he consults with multiple players on various different decisions. “But as far as Larry being involved with the decision no, Larry’s not going to be involved with the decision.”

The last time Whisenhunt decided on who should be the team’s starting quarterback the Cardinals lined up with Derek Anderson, Max Hall and John Skelton under center, so one has to wonder how much Fitzgerald’s input could even hurt.

Follow @theAdamGreen