Larry Fitzgerald Extension Sets Super Bowl Expectations for Arizona Cardinals

By re-signing superstar wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, rather than release him to avoid some of his $23.6 million cap hit, the Arizona Cardinals are sending a clear message to the rest of the NFL: They're here to stay.

More importantly, though, they're sending a message to their players and fans: They're gunning for the Super Bowl.

As first reported by Pro Football Talk's Josh Alper, Fitzgerald has signed an extension that will clear up $13 million in 2015 cap space for the Cardinals, as well as guarantee him $11 million over the next two seasons. This gives the cap-strapped team breathing room to re-sign key free agents, like cornerback Antonio Cromartie, and maybe add some pieces.

Per Kent Somers of The Arizona Republic, the extension is a four-year deal that voids to two in order to tie up loose ends left by his prior contract:

Fitzgerald is an eight-time Pro Bowler and a former first-team All-Pro. He's easily the best pass-catcher ever to wear a Cardinals uniform, and it's not close. His 909 career receptions, 12,151 yards and 89 touchdowns are 55 percent, 43 percent and 102 percent more than the second-best Cardinal in each category, per Pro Football Reference.

Fitzgerald was the cornerstone of the Cardinals' elevation from perennial NFL punchline to 2008 NFC Champion, and his work in the community has twice made him a finalist for the NFL's Walter Payton Man of the Year award.

Why was re-signing him even a question?

He hasn't cracked 1,000 yards since 2011 or 90 catches since 2010. He hasn't even led the Cardinals in receiving yards since 2012. He'll turn 32 before the 2015 regular season starts, and his production shows it.

Yes, the Cardinals had a disastrous quarterback situation this season, losing both starter Carson Palmer and backup Drew Stanton to knee injuries and limping into the playoffs with Ryan Lindley at quarterback.

Yes, Fitzgerald himself missed three starts due to a Week 11 MCL sprain—but look at the per-game rate stats as measured against the rest of his career:

	Tar/G	Rec/G	Yds/G	TD/G
2004-2013	9.55	5.6	75.4	0.54
2014	7.92	4.5	56.0	0.14

Even at his All-Pro peak, Fitzgerald was never an out-and-out burner. Slowed by injury and age, he was an especially poor fit with Stanton, whose boom-or-bust downfield game netted him the second-highest yards-per-completion rate in the NFL. The emergence of Michael Floyd and speedster John Brown made Fitzgerald's possession work less relevant. 

Moving forward, it was hard to see how Fitz would be a part of whatever the Cardinals do next. Craig Morgan of Fox Sports Arizona even reported Fitzgerald did not expect to be brought back for 2015.

Even if Fitzgerald doesn't start this season a lock to make the Pro Bowl, though, the Cardinals couldn't let him walk.

The Cardinals weren't likely to land a receiver with Fitzgerald's size and hands...well, anywhere, let alone for a two-year, $22 million contract. The team-friendly deal will allow Palmer, who's typically preferred Fitzgerald to Floyd, to return with plenty of time for the regular season.

For all these reasons and more, Cardinals general manager Steve Keim told CBS Sports' Will Brinson re-signing Fitzgerald was his "No. 1 goal."

"I truly think Larry Fitzgerald can help us win football games," said Keim. "Not only that but the impact he has for us off the field is [impressive as well]."

The biggest reason of all: Super Bowl teams don't let nucleus players leave.

Colin Young-Wolff/Associated Press

Before losing Stanton, the Cardinals had built a solid lead in the NFC West—the division whose champion has gone to the Super Bowl each of the last three seasons. Had Stanton not gone down, the Cardinals would have looked like a different team down the stretch and in the playoffs. Had Palmer not gotten injured, things might have turned out better in January.

Fitzgerald isn't just a key cog in an offense that can't afford to regress in 2014, he's still the franchise's on- and off-field foundation. Floyd and Brown are talented, but at ages 25 and 24, respectively, they're far from finished products. They've never produced in the NFL without Fitzgerald's smart, savvy presence there to lead, guide and draw coverage for them.

The Cardinals offense went from 31st in scoring to 16th upon Arians' arrival; going into 2015 with a receiver corps so thin and inexperienced would make it nearly impossible to recapture and build on that momentum.

"It would be awfully difficult for me to see Larry Fitzgerald wear another uniform," Keim told Brinson.

That would ring true for every long-suffering Cardinals fan for whom Fitzgerald has been a decade-long beacon of hope.

Getting rid of Fitzgerald would send a message to players and fans alike: The Cardinals aren't all-in to win a Super Bowl this year—and maybe they aren't trying to win a Super Bowl at all.

By guaranteeing Fitzgerald $11 million for each of the next two years, they're promising to do everything they can to win a championship while this window is open—and if they reach the mountaintop, they'll do it with the help of the man who dragged them most of the way there.