Arizona Cardinals: Will Larry Fitzgerald Still Be in Arizona in 2012?

It’s time for Larry Fitzgerald to come clean.  Either he wants to remain a Cardinal, as he says, or he doesn’t.  

The decision is his alone.

The Cardinals have put the ball in his court.  They have offered to make him the highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL, so money shouldn’t be an issue.  He might be able to get even more money by testing the market to become the highest-paid receiver by an even wider margin, but I suspect that money is not the underlying issue holding up the contract.

The most likely factor holding up the extension is not money, but whether or not the team is designed to be a winner. Fitzgerald may like it in Arizona, but he wants to play out the second half of his career with a legitimate contender.

The Cardinals have done more to improve in this offseason than in any other year since coming to Arizona.

The team has secured the quarterback that they believe will take them back to the top of the division and keep them there for years to come.  There have been efforts to surround Fitzgerald with complimentary receivers, but at the present time, the team has put their entire focus into re-signing their star receiver.

Ironically, by drawing out the process, Fitzgerald is only hindering the team from making further moves to ensure that they are a legitimate contender.

What will it take for a deal to get done?  Does Fitzgerald just need more time with Kevin Kolb before he is convinced that he is the quarterback that can return the team to prominence?

Whatever it is, the sooner the better.   

The last thing that the organization or the fans want is to be like the other Cardinals organization—the one that failed to secure Albert Pujols to an extension before the beginning of their season and has had to play through the uncertainty.

From the lockout to the quarterback questions, Cardinals fans have had enough uncertainty and speculation for one offseason.