Larry Fitzgerald “Uncertain” About Future
Coming off three straight double-digit-win seasons and an NFC championship game berth last year, the Cardinals entered 2016 as Super Bowl hopefuls. Fourteen games later, they’re 5-8-1, clearly among the NFL’s most disappointing teams and set to post a losing record for the first time in head coach Bruce Arians’ four-year tenure. The 64-year-old Arians will return in 2017, he said Wednesday (via Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com), but franchise icon Larry Fitzgerald might not. The future Hall of Fame wide receiver is unsure if he’ll come back next year for what would be his age-34 season.
On the possibility of retiring, Fitzgerald told Jim Gray of Westwood One Radio, “No, I wouldn’t say that I’m contemplating it right now. But I’m uncertain about what I’m going to do moving forward. But I still love the game, I love the competition and I love being around the guys and competing for a championship. That’s a lot of fun to me.”
Fitzgerald is under contract for 2017, having signed an extension in August, but his $11MM salary is guaranteed for injury only. Further, there was a report in early September – just over a month after Fitzgerald inked his new deal – that he’d retire after the season. Losing Fitzgerald would be a massive blow for the Cardinals, of course, as the 13th-year man’s career-long track record of prolific production has continued this season en route to a 10th Pro Bowl nod. With two games remaining, Fitzgerald is two catches away from the fourth 100-reception season of his career. He also needs just 51 yards for his seventh campaign with at least 1,000, though his 9.7 yards-per-catch average is easily a personal worst.
Fitzgerald, whom the Cardinals chose third overall out of Pitt in the 2004 draft, has vaulted to third all-time in catches (1,116, trailing only Jerry Rice’s 1,549 and Tony Gonzalez‘s 1,325), 10th in yards (14,315) and eighth in receiving touchdowns (103, five of which have come this year). Thus, regardless of whether he continues past this season, he’ll go down as one of the greatest aerial threats in the history of the sport.
If Fitzgerald does retire, it would further put the Cardinals’ receiving corps in flux after the departure of fellow wideout Michael Floyd, whom the club released last week. John Brown, JJ Nelson and Jaron Brown are all under contract next year, though they’ve combined for 24 fewer catches this season than Fitzgerald has amassed by himself. Unsurprisingly, then, Arians doesn’t want Fitzgerald to go anywhere. The coach acknowledged that “the same team never comes back” on a year-to-year basis, but his “hope” is that Fitzgerald will return.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/20/16
Today’s practice squad moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: CB Ronald Zamort
Cleveland Browns
- Signed LB James Burgess, TE J.P. Holtz
Denver Broncos
- Signed: TE Austin Traylor
Detroit Lions
- Signed: WR Andrew Turzilli
Green Bay Packers
- Signed: WR Max McCaffrey
Indianapolis Colts
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: DT Cory Johnson
New York Jets
- Signed: C Kyle Friend, TE Jason Vander Laan
Philadelphia Eagles
- Cut: TE Marcel Jensen
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: CB Al-Hajj Shabazz
- Cut: CB Brandon Dixon
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: WR DiAndre Campbell, CB Duke Thomas
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: RB Malcolm Johnson
- Placed on practice squad IR: OL Robert Myers
2017 NFL Draft Order Through Week 15
With just two weeks to go, the NFL playoff picture is starting to get clearer. The Cowboys, Seahawks, Patriots, and Raiders have already punched their playoff tickets while the Chiefs, Steelers, Falcons, and Giants are considered near locks by the forecasts at Five Thirty Eight.
Here’s a look at where the draft order stands for the teams not currently slated to make the cut (Note: Ties are broken by strength of schedule):
1. Browns 0-14
2. 49ers 1-13
3. Jaguars 2-12
4. Bears 3-11
5. Jets 4-10
6. Rams (pick belongs to Titans) 4-10
7. Eagles (pick belongs to Browns) 5-9
8. Chargers 5-9
9. Cardinals 5-8-1
10. Bengals 5-8-1
11. Panthers 6-8
12. Saints 6-8
13. Bills 7-7
14. Colts 7-7
15. Vikings (pick belongs to Eagles) 7-7
16. Redskins 7-6-1
17. Titans 8-6
17. Ravens 8-6 (Note: The Titans and Ravens are currently knotted up in terms of both record and strength of schedule. In all statistical likelihood, the SOS logjam will be broken by the end of the season.)
19. Texans 8-6
20. Buccaneers 8-6
Cardinals Promote Harlan Miller
- The Cardinals announced that they’ve promoted 2016 sixth-round cornerback Harlan Miller. In a related move, Arizona waived CB Tharold Simon. Simon had been claimed off waivers earlier this year, but managed only 76 snaps with the Cards.
Carson Palmer Expects To Play In 2017
- Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer has struggled for stretches this season, but the veteran doesn’t sound like he’s considering retirement. “Haven’t thought about next year but I expect to play in 2017,” the 36-year-old said today (via Mike Jurecki of Fox Sports 910 on Twitter).
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Breer On GM Search, Harbaugh, Draft
When it comes to being a GM, is it more about who you know than what you know? In his latest column, Albert Breer of The MMQB spoke with one league official who suggested that the NFL’s career development advisory panel has something of a fraternity-vibe.
“It’s all full of nepotism. It’s a joke. And it starts with Charley Casserly,” the personnel man said.
Casserly rejected the idea that he, Ron Wolf, Bill Polian, Ernie Accorsi, John Madden, Tony Dungy and Carl Peterson are aiming to line up their friends with jobs, but he did acknowledge that connections help.
“It’s so different than it is with coaches,” Casserly said. “Coaches are so clearly defined. You know who calls the plays, you see them on TV, coordinators have press conferences. It’s just not like that in scouting. Are they pro? College? None of them are making big decisions. What you need is networking. It’s not politicking.”
Casserly was directly involved with the Jets’ coach and GM search process in 2015. Gang Green wound up hiring Todd Bowles and Mike Maccagnan – two former co-workers of Casserly’s.
Here’s more from Breer:
- Breer identified the following executives as people who could immediately jump into a GM job somewhere: Chiefs VP of player personnel Chris Ballard, Patriots VP of player personnel Nick Caserio, Ravens assistant GM Eric DeCosta, Seahawks co-director of player personnel Scott Fitterer, Texans director of player personnel Brian Gaine, Packers director of player personnel Brian Gutekunst, Seahawks co-director of player personnel Trent Kirchner, Cowboys assistant director of player personnel Will McClay, Cardinals VP of player personnel Terry McDonough, Vikings assistant GM George Paton, Falcons assistant GM Scott Pioli, Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin, Packers director of football operations Eliot Wolf.
- The widespread feeling in NFL circles is that Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh will be back in pro football eventually, even if it’s not happening right now. For his part, Harbaugh says that he is incredibly happy as the Wolverines’ coach.
- Is Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen the next under-the-radar quarterback prospect a la Carson Wentz? It was Craig Bohl who recruited Carson Wentz to North Dakota State and he is now Allen’s coach at Wyoming. It’s hard to say whether the 6’5″, 222-pound signal caller has the same kind of talent, but his stock is rising. “He’s a big ol’ kid with a big arm, and he’s pretty athletic too,” said one AFC exec. “We gotta learn more about him, but the tools are there.” Allen, a redshirt sophomore, has plenty of time to develop.
- Western Michigan coach P.J. Fleck recently predicted that Central Michigan quarterback Cooper Rush will be an “incredibly high draft pick” this year. Apparently, talent evaluators do not agree. “He may get drafted late because of the [lack of] quality at the position,” said one area scout assigned to CMU. “He’s an accurate thrower with deceptive athletic ability to extend plays with his feet. Not a dynamic or explosive athlete, but good enough to avoid the rush and create at times. Average arm at best, but he’s got solid touch on intermediate and deep balls. He just lacks elite velocity.”
Cardinals To Extend Zac Dysert Through 2017
After being promoted from the practice squad to the active roster Tuesday, Cardinals quarterback Zac Dysert signed a new contract to remain in Arizona through the 2017 campaign, Dysert told Kyle Odegard of AZCardinals.com (Twitter link). While there’s no word on the financials of the deal, it likely contains little or no guaranteed money.
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Dysert, 26, has bounced around the league since entering the NFL as a seventh-round draft choice in 2013, and the Cardinals are the sixth club he’s been with during his four-year career. One team that had previously employed Dysert — the Dolphins — were reportedly interested in signing him off Arizona’s practice squad, forcing the Cardinals to either promote him or lose him, tweets Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com. For his part, Dysert wasn’t interested in heading back to Miami.
“They already cut me once so I was like, ‘I’m not going to go back there when they already cut me,’ ” Dysert said, according to Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic. “Most likely, for me, I would have went there for three weeks or until the season ended and they would have cut me. I’ve been here all year, building relationships with all the coaches, all the guys on the team. I just thought this was the best fit for me.”
Dysert may have had a chance to serve as Miami’s No. 2 quarterback over the conclusion of the regular season (the Dolphins have since signed veteran T.J. Yates), and while he’s now third on the depth chart in Arizona, there’s a chance Dysert could factor into the Cards’ long-term plans, especially as starter Carson Palmer‘s career winds down. Head coach Bruce Arians told Urban that Dysert has a “really good chance to be a good player,” while Palmer was also complimentary.
“He’s picked up the offense extremely quick,” Palmer said. “Very bright, throws it really well. He moves around and looks fluid in the pocket. I think [Arians] is spot-on with that comment, I said the same thing. He’s bounced around a little bit but I think he’s found a good spot here.”
Patriots Claim Michael Floyd Off Waivers
Michael Floyd has a new home. One day after being cut by the Cardinals, the wide receiver has been claimed off waivers by the Patriots. 
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Floyd was considered a promising not too long ago and the Patriots are hoping that they can get something out of him late in the season. The Cardinals are on the hook for Floyd’s Week 15 salary, so the Pats are responsible for just two weeks of his pay. Floyd gets $430K per week on his $7.32MM salary, so claiming him costs them $861K. If he does well in the final weeks of the season and in the playoffs, he could find a role with the team next year. Alternatively, Floyd could net the Pats a compensatory draft pick if he were to sign elsewhere this offseason as a free agent.
So far this year, Floyd has 33 catches for 446 yards and four touchdowns. Once regarded as the heir apparent to Larry Fitzgerald in Arizona, Floyd has slipped down the depth chart and his DUI was apparently the last straw for coach Bruce Arians & Co.
The 11-2 Patriots are tied for the best record in the NFL with the Cowboys. Since New England had winning successful claim, that means just about every other team in the league passed on adding Floyd for the home stretch of the season.
How Cardinals Can Replace Michael Floyd
The Cardinals‘ need for a wide receiver has now amped up their need for a wide receiver in this year’s draft, ESPN.com’s Josh Weinfuss writes. Larry Fitzgerald‘s career is coming down the home stretch and neither J.J. Nelson nor John Brown are above 5’11”. Right now, the Cards are projected to pick just outside the top ten and there are a handful of receivers they could grab in that range. Clemson’s Mike Williams, for example, offers great size at 6’3″ and is widely regarded as one of this year’s best WRs. Other tall options include Western Michigan’s Corey Davis and USC’s JuJu Smith-Schuster.
- Floyd’s career never reached its full potential with the Cardinals, Weinfuss writes. When Arizona took Floyd No. 13 overall in 2012, the thinking was that he would eventually take the torch from Fitzgerald. Instead, he had only one 1,000-yard season and never emerged out of Fitzgerald’s shadow. He seemed to be on the right track in 2013, but a groin injury in 2014 coupled with Carson Palmer‘s absence derailed him. In 2015, Palmer returned, but a gruesome hand injury hampered him early. He finished ’15 strong, but Floyd could not stop dropping passes in 2016. After his DUI, the Cardinals turned the tables and dropped him from the roster.
Cardinals Players React To Michael Floyd's Release
- Cardinals players were “shocked” and in “disbelief” after receiver Michael Floyd‘s release on Wednesday, defensive back Tyrann Mathieu told Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com. Floyd was a popular figure in the locker room, notes Weinfuss, and quarterback Carson Palmer called him a “close friend” and “leader.” The club moved on from Floyd, an impending free agent, shortly after he was charged with his second DUI in the past five years.