Steve Keim: ‘It’s our intent to have Larry Fitzgerald retire a Cardinal’
Dec 22, 2014, 5:16 PM | Updated: 5:41 pm
The Arizona Cardinals’ Sunday night showdown with the Seattle Seahawks didn’t go according to plan, but Cards fans received a potential piece of good news shortly before kickoff.
On Sunday, NBCSports.com’s Mike Florio reported Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald will not be cut next season, despite speculation that he might be released due to the $23.6 million he’s set to make in 2015.
On Monday, Cardinals general manager Steve Keim affirmed the report.
“I don’t think it’s any secret that we’ve said all along it’s our intent to have Larry Fitzgerald retire a Cardinal,” Keim said on Doug and Wolf on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.
“I don’t want to get into it too deep, but with planning purposes, financially, from a cap standpoint, all those sorts of things, we have Larry’s number already baked into our numbers.”
Fitzgerald could see his deal restructured, he could negotiate an extension, or he could be traded, according to Florio’s report.
Keim kept the possibility of a restructured deal on the table.
“We’ve had ongoing talks with (Fitzgerald’s agent) Eugene Parker and we will continue to have ongoing talks, but the best I can tell you is that it is our intent to keep Larry and to make sure that he stays a Cardinal for the rest of his career,” he said.
“Even though it’s still not 2015, it’s my job to look at 2015, ’16, ’17 and years beyond, and we have to make good business decisions.”
Fitzgerald restructured his contract in February to reduce the Cardinals’ 2014 salary cap hit.
Last month, ESPN.com’s Kevin Seifert called Fitzgerald’s contract one of the most onerous in the NFL.
