Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald posted 63 catches for 784 yards last season, which were his lowest numbers since his rookie season and the cause of some discussion about how much he might have left in the tank after 11 seasons in Arizona.
It looked for a few moments like his time in Arizona might be done as a big cap number called his future with the team into question. The two sides hammered out agreement on a two-year deal, however, that will pay Fitzgerald $22 million and give him a chance to prove that there’s still a lot in the tank after being slowed by injuries last year.
“I can still play the game at a high level, given the opportunity to go out there and thrive,” Fitzgerald said, via the Arizona Republic. “It was fluke stuff, too. You work so hard to get yourself physically ready to go and you see it happen just that fast. You see Andre Ellington making a cut, or Carson Palmer being hit on his knee. You take for granted your health, sometimes.”
Fitzgerald had his strongest outings of the season just before Palmer was lost to a torn ACL last year, so a healthy Palmer return could be just as important as Fitzgerald’s own return to health. With Michael Floyd and John Brown also on hand, though, playing at a high level probably won’t lead to the eye-popping numbers of Fitzgerald’s younger days.