With the season less than a month away, Larry Fitzgerald remains unsigned. And the future Hall of Fame wide receiver does not sound like he will join a team in the near future.
Although the 17-year veteran said his plans could change, he is content to keep his options open for the time being. For the time being, Fitzgerald has announced plans to host a Sirius XM radio show alongside Tom Brady and Jim Gray. This certainly stands to keep fans in the loop regarding the future Hall of Famer’s plans.
“For now, I’ll be a radio broadcaster. Jim, to be honest with you, I just don’t have the urge to play right now,” Fitzgerald said during an interview with Gray on Sirius XM (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Kevin Patra). “I just don’t know how I’ll feel in September, October, November moving forward, but I just, today, I just don’t have the urge.”
The Cardinals did not close the door on Fitz coming back but made multiple moves at wide receiver that would affect his return. Arizona signed A.J. Green and drafted Rondale Moore in the second round. They joined DeAndre Hopkins and Christian Kirk on the Cards’ roster. As recently as July, Fitz said he had not made up his mind on returning. His most recent comments, however, mark the clearest sign yet retirement may be close.
Fitzgerald, who will turn 38 later this month, has taken a year-to-year approach with his career since 2016. But the latest he previously decided on returning was late January (in 2019). The NFL’s second all-time leading pass catcher has said in the past he only wanted to play for the Cardinals, but if no clear role exists for him in Arizona, the 11-time Pro Bowler might need to adjust that stance — if he is to reconsider playing again.
An injury affecting the Cards’ or perhaps another contending team’s receiving corps would naturally invite speculation about a Fitz return, but he is coming off the worst statistical season of his career. Fitz caught 54 passes for just 409 yards and one touchdown in 2020, a season in which he missed two games after contracting COVID-19.
Fitzgerald’s 1,432 receptions and 17,492 receiving yards are second only to Jerry Rice all time. No active wideout is within 500 receptions or 4,000 yards of his respective career totals. The decorated wideout will cruise to Canton, but until he announces his retirement, the prospect of him suiting up either in Arizona or with another team via in-season signing will be one of this year’s subplots.
