Larry Fitzgerald Dodges Retirement Question
Larry Fitzgerald recently signed an extension with the Cardinals that would take him through the 2017 season. However, when asked if he’d retire before completing the contract, the veteran wideout dodged the question.
Cardinals Release Wagenmann, Sign Iosia
- The Cardinals have released LB Zack Wagenmann with an injury settlement and have signed DT Iosia Iosia, Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com tweets. Wagenmann, whom Arizona signed as a UDFA out of Montana last season, missed his entire rookie campaign after breaking his foot twice. He set Montana’s career sacks (37.5) and tackles for loss (53) records. The Titans signed Iosia as a UDFA this season, but he was waived in May.
Cardinals GM Talks "Risk" Of Adding Jones, Nkemdiche
The Cardinals added a number of big names this offseason, including rookie defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche and linebacker Chandler Jones. While the two players have a relatively tumultuous past, the organization believed it was worth the risk to acquire the duo.
“You have to take some risks,” Cardinals general manager Steve Keim said (via Tom Pelissero of USA Today). “Let’s be honest: Not every player out there that is extremely gifted has done everything right in his life. Yet at the same time, we want to create a culture in the locker room of positive guys, good people in the community.”
Opinion: Carson Palmer Trade Among Cardinals' Best
- One trade McKenzie made early in his tenure – a 2013 deal that sent quarterback Carson Palmer and a seventh-round pick to Arizona for a sixth-rounder and a conditional selection – looks to be among the best moves in Cardinals history, opines Mike Jurecki of FOX Sports 910. Palmer scuffled in Oakland, but he has revived his career with the Super Bowl-contending Cardinals, having helped the team to a 29-9 record in his starts while throwing 70 touchdowns against 36 interceptions. As a result, Arizona extended Palmer through 2018 last week.
Opinion: Cards Need O-Line Depth
- With Earl Watford out at least two weeks, the Cardinals‘ second unit ls lacking consistency in camp and Mike Jurecki of FOX Sports 910 (on Twitter) opines that the team could use some veteran depth on the O-Line.
Cardinals' Veldheer Restructures Deal
- Cardinals tackle Jared Veldheer converted $6MM of his $7.25MM base salary into a signing bonus, creating $4MM of cap space for the team, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. That gave the team enough wiggle room to give Larry Fitzgerald and Carson Palmer one-year extensions last week.
Cardinals Notes: Jones, Fitzgerald, Mathieu
The Cardinals enjoyed an eventful week from a long-term planning perspective, reaching a lucrative extension with Tyrann Mathieu and following that up with smaller-scale extensions for Larry Fitzgerald and Carson Palmer. Up next on Arizona’s deal docket: Chandler Jones?
The recently acquired pass-rusher will be Steve Keim‘s next target for an extension, Ed Werder of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter). A former first-round pick, Jones cost the Cardinals a second-round pick and underwhelming former first-round guard Jonathan Cooper in the March trade with the Patriots, who had a glut of 2017 expiring contracts.
Jones stands to play this season on a fifth-year option of $7.799MM. It would cost upwards of $14MM for the Cardinals to place the franchise tag on him next spring. On the heels of his first Pro Bowl and registering a career-high 12.5 sacks last season, Jones would stand to be one of the most sought-after free agents if he reaches the market.
Here’s some more coming out of the desert.
- Fitzgerald’s extension that allots an $11MM payment to the standout wideout in 2017 is guaranteed for injury only, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. This does not ensure the 32-year-old wide receiver will play for the Cardinals in ’17, which would be his 14th season, with Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk calling this extension a “free disability policy” for the longtime Arizona pass-catcher. Florio offers that this extension helps the defending NFC West champions avoid the distraction of having one of the best players in franchise history play on an expiring contract this season.
- Mathieu’s contract calls for the fourth-year defensive back to make $1MM in base salary this season, with bases of $4.75MM, $5.75MM, $5.75MM, $10.75MM and $9.25MM from 2017-21, Nick Underhill of The Advocate reports (on Twitter). Underhill reports $35MM of this uniquely crafted contract is guaranteed.
- The Cardinals took care of Mathieu despite his injuries, enough so that OverTheCap’s Jason Fitzgerald does not categorize this as a two-pronged agreement. He points out the Cardinals giving him substantially more money than the league’s previous highest-paid safety, Harrison Smith, shows they valued him as a cornerback as well rather than just a safety. Mathieu will make $42MM by 2019 on this extension compared to Smith’s $32MM at that point, and the two top-level safeties’ structures separate further by 2020, when Mathieu’s deal will surpass the $53MM mark compared to Smith’s $41MM by that point. His payments are much closer to the likes of Richard Sherman or teammate Patrick Peterson, as Fitzgerald shows.
- Calais Campbell hopes his contract will be addressed soon. The 29-year-old defensive end is in the final season of a five-year, $55MM deal.
Latest On Cardinals Contract Extensions
- Cardinals general manager Steve Keim had no issues extending 36-year-old Carson Palmer. In fact, the executive doesn’t want to imagine life without the talented quarterback. “That’s all I think about,” Keim said (via ESPN.com’s Dan Graziano). “That’s what keeps you up at night. I mean, if you think about it, what GM or coach doesn’t have their career attached to that position?…I was fortunate enough to get this job, and one of the first moves I made was to trade for Carson. And the rest is history. Three years, 10, 11 and 13 wins. And there’s no doubt he’s obviously the biggest impact.”
- With Palmer, Larry Fitzgerald, and Tyrann Mathieu recently earning extensions, Cardinals defensive tackle Calais Campbell is hoping his new contract is next on the organization’s agenda. “I hope so,” Campbell told ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss. “Just one of those things when it comes, I’m going to be very happy but you got to be patient and continue playing ball and whenever it comes I’m going to be ready for it.”
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Cardinals Notes: Palmer, Fitzgerald
The contract extensions the Cardinals awarded quarterback Carson Palmer and future Hall of Fame receiver Larry Fitzgerald on Friday extend the team’s Super Bowl window beyond this season, Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com contends. As an added benefit, the Cardinals now have extra time to find a successor to the 36-year-old Palmer, and they no longer have to worry about losing two of their top wideouts – Fitzgerald and free agent-to-be Michael Floyd – at season’s end. Worst-case scenario, the Cardinals’ receiving corps will still contain Fitzgerald and John Brown in 2017.
- Palmer’s deal with the Cardinals features a $6.75MM signing bonus and fully guarantees his $15.5MM salary and bonus for 2017, according to Dan Graziano of ESPN.com. On the other hand, neither Palmer’s $12.5MM salary nor $1.5MM roster bonus for 2018 are guaranteed.
Cardinals Extend Fitzgerald, Palmer
The Cardinals have extended the contracts of Larry Fitzgerald and Carson Palmer, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The extensions will tie Arizona to Palmer through 2018 and will keep Fitzgerald in place through 2017. The team has confirmed both deals via press release. 
Palmer’s one-year is extension worth just under $24.35MM, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). He also received a $6.75MM signing bonus.
Before today’s news, there was quite a bit of speculation about this being the final go ’round for both Palmer and Fitzgerald. Now, it sounds like the 36-year-old signal caller and the 32-year-old wide receiver intend to play for a little while longer.
Palmer signed a three year, $49.5MM contract extension with the Cards in November of 2014, giving him just over $14MM in full guarantees upon signing. That was a significant commitment at the time, but the quarterback market has risen sharply in the last 18 months or so. Prior to today’s agreement, Palmer was just No. 21 among quarterbacks in terms of average annual salary with a deal. With an additional year, his new agreement will take him through 2018 with a sizable pay bump.
Fitzgerald had something of a comeback season in 2015, catching 109 passes for more than 1,200 yards and nine touchdowns in his age-32 season. Recently, when asked about the possibility of an extension, Fitzgerald downplayed the importance of a new deal.
“Honestly, I have no idea,” Fitzgerald told Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com (Twitter link). “I really don’t look at it like that.”
“We’re just in OTAs right now, man,” added Fitzgerald, who is set to enter his 13th season with the Cardinals. “We’ve got training camp and minicamp and the regular season. We’ve got a long ways to go before that’s even a point of discussion. So I’m enjoying this. I’m trying to make it the best year yet.”
Fitzgerald was slated to hit the open market after earning an $11MM base salary in 2016. After agreeing to a contract restructure in February of 2016, the veteran has been rewarded with an additional contract year – one in which he’ll make another $11MM, per Rapoport (Twitter link).
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.