Cardinals president Michael Bidwill is ready to do some business.
Not only did he say this morning that extensions for coach Bruce Arians and General Manager Steve Keim should be finished “in the next few weeks,” but he also started the subtle process of squeezing veteran wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald into a pay cut.
Appearing on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM, Bidwill said the clock was ticking to restructure Fitzgerald’s deal down from the $16 million he’s scheduled to make, since the team wanted to be able to sign an impact free agent this offseason.
“Well, I think, immediately, we’ve got to address Larry Fitzgerald’s contract,” Bidwill said. “We’ve talked about that. We’ve been working hard on trying to make sure that he’s got a contract that compensates him appropriately. I think Steve [Keim] and his group have been doing a great job, [including director of football administration] Mike Disner. But, it takes two to come to an agreement. So, I think that’s the first order of business. We’ve got free agency coming up around the corner. Prior to that is the Scouting Combine, as you know, in Indianapolis next week, so a lot of work is going to get done there as we prepare for the draft, but then free agency and then the draft.
“Free agency is going to be big for us. We’ve got to get the contract restructured with Fitz, because look at what we did last year in free agency with one significant signing, took care of that left tackle with Jared Veldheer, who did a tremendous job, and that’s the kind of impact we want to have this year in free agency.”
Come to think of it, that’s not terribly subtle at all.
Bidwill basically said it’s time for Fitzgerald to play ball if he truly wants to stay with the Cardinals, since they can’t afford to build the team they want with him taking up such a large portion of the salary cap. As talented and tenured as he is, it’s hard to argue that Fitzgerald’s worth $16 million this year, which is the underlying message Bidwill’s trying to get across.
Then again, maybe Fitzgerald doesn’t want to stay, which could lead to him digging in his heels and forcing them to release him.
