Larry Fitzgerald gets paid

Larry Fitzgerald just cashed in. The Arizona Cardinals have reached an 8 year, 120 million dollar deal with their star Wide Out. The deal also comes with 50 million guaranteed. It is a substantial jump in pay for Fitzgerald, as his last deal was worth right around 10 million per season. Since Fitzgerald is now 28, this deal likely will keep him in the desert for his entire career. Fitzgerald came to the team as the third overall pick in the 2004 draft.

Of course since I remember the Brandon Marshall eye popping deal that was reported to be worth 10 million bucks a year, and ultimately wasn’t, I am waiting to see the details on this one. I am sure the pay increase is substantial, but I really wonder if the Cardinals really inflated the price for top tier wide outs by this much. That would certainly be bad news for the Detroit Lions, Philadelphia Eagles, and San Diego Chargers who all have top tier wide outs approaching new deals.

For the Cardinals this represents a change in how they have conducted their business. Earlier this year the Cardinals not only traded for QB Kevin Kolb, but signed him to a five year extension worth a reported 63 million dollars. It looks like 20 million of that number will be guaranteed. It also indicates that the Cardinals are serious about building up a strong core of talented players.

Of course those plans took a big hit with the pre-season injury to rookie RB Ryan Williams. Williams injured his knee, and a rash of injuries to rookie RB’s this pre-season aside, it leaves the Cardinals pretty thin at the RB spot. They do have Beanie Wells, but traded away Tim Hightower because Williams had looked so good in camp. We will have to wait and see how this one plays out.