Larry Fitzgerald marvels at Tom Brady's accomplishments, willing to restructure
A report from Tom E. Curran earlier this week told us that the Pats had interesting in trading for him last year. If they did pull that off, you might be able to argue that they could be playing in the Super Bowl right now.
So naturally, Pats fans are clamoring for Bill Belichick and company to try again. We took a look yesterday at how realistic it was.
Larry Fitzgerald carries a BIG salary. He has an $18 million cap figure for 2014, and might need to restructure his deal to help out the Cardinals.
ProFootballtalk:
After the season, Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic reported that Fitzgerald was unwilling to take a pay cut although the receiver said Thursday that he’s open to restructuring.
“Absolutely. If that’s what needs to be done, that’s what needs to be done,” Fitzgerald said in an interview with Mike Jurecki of FOX Sports 910.
Of course, if the Patriots were able to swing a deal for Fitzgerald, he would absolutely need to help the team get that number down. Not that it would do that much good. Fitzgerald is owed a lot of money, no matter how you slice it. Even if he restructured to make less money in 2014, the rest of that money just gets piled up on the back end. The only possible solution to that is talking extension, but Fitzgerald is already 31 which complicates matters there.
Still, Fitzgerald is an admirer of Tom Brady, and if the Cardinals were looking to trade him, it's hard to see him putting up a fight if the destination was New England.
ESPNBoston:
"Obviously, you know, he's top two or three quarterbacks to ever play the game," Fitzgerald replied. "How can you not marvel at what he's been able to accomplish?"
Fitzgerald did say that the Cardinals had never approached him about a deal. If the Patriots did go all in, it'd be very risky and would leave them almost no flexibility to shore up other needs on the roster. Is that worth it to bring in a talent like Fitzgerald? It's a question we'll probably be asking ourselves well into the Summer.
