OT: Larry Fitzgerald does not expect to be back with the Cardinals next season

[Aßßynormal]

Indianapolis is a good X or Y place for him.

He's an old dog being asked to learn new (complicated) tricks here. I'd love to have him for depth. He wants to be a starter and a primary focus. Risk versus reward (we can't pay everyone). We should just wait this out, we've speculated too much on him. Vince Jackson is a possible similar player with new tricks to learn. Sign ours first, look for less expensive depth at WR.

 

[patfanken]

The only thing that's surprising about this threat was the BM labeled it "OT". Not only isn't OT, its perhaps the most talked about thread topic on this board. This wll start the Larry Fitzherald thread. One dow and 15 more to go.

 

[supafly]

The only thing that's surprising about this threat was the BM labeled it "OT". Not only isn't OT, its perhaps the most talked about thread topic on this board. This wll start the Larry Fitzherald thread. One dow and 15 more to go.

As much as I fully agree with you that bringing in someone like that does NOT provide good value, there are actually some very decent arguments for an attempt at making it happen:

1)--Fitzgerald would not have a problem picking things up, so he falls into a very small group who'd be practically "guaranteed" to work well with Brady

2)--He's one of those savvy vets with experience, who take every single snap seriously--even if they occur during the off-season and/or practice situations. Think an offensive version of Darrelle Revis. The ultimate professional who is going to give his all on every snap

3)--The lack of outside receiver needs to be addressed one way or another. The problem with paying someone 10 million dollars per year is that you just don't know if they're going to be able to pick up the offense here. (See first reason) That does not apply with Larry Fitzgerald

4)--He's obviously extremely talented, and would allow us to have 3 solid receivers + Gronk at TE. It'd basically be Super Bowl or bust, and that kind of offense could seriously set records. Edelman as the shorter/timing route receiver, LaFell as a possession-type of receiver + YACs, and Fitzgerald as the outside weapon who would likely catch a good 4-5 balls every game



Ultimately, I still feel as though it would be a waste of resources unless Fitzgerald wanted to play with a pro bowl QB and have a shot at a SB so much that he'd be willing to accept a lesser deal. If that's the case, it suddenly becomes a no-brainer in my opinion. I'd still be extremely tempted to give him a call, one way or another, though.

 

[Jackson 2]

How about a pass rusher? The obsession with deep WRs is astounding to me.

 

[RobertWeathers]

As much as I fully agree with you that bringing in someone like that does NOT provide good value, there are actually some very decent arguments for an attempt at making it happen:

1)--Fitzgerald would not have a problem picking things up, so he falls into a very small group who'd be practically "guaranteed" to work well with Brady

2)--He's one of those savvy vets with experience, who take every single snap seriously--even if they occur during the off-season and/or practice situations. Think an offensive version of Darrelle Revis. The ultimate professional who is going to give his all on every snap

3)--The lack of outside receiver needs to be addressed one way or another. The problem with paying someone 10 million dollars per year is that you just don't know if they're going to be able to pick up the offense here. (See first reason) That does not apply with Larry Fitzgerald

4)--He's obviously extremely talented, and would allow us to have 3 solid receivers + Gronk at TE. It'd basically be Super Bowl or bust, and that kind of offense could seriously set records. Edelman as the shorter/timing route receiver, LaFell as a possession-type of receiver + YACs, and Fitzgerald as the outside weapon who would likely catch a good 4-5 balls every game



Ultimately, I still feel as though it would be a waste of resources unless Fitzgerald wanted to play with a pro bowl QB and have a shot at a SB so much that he'd be willing to accept a lesser deal. If that's the case, it suddenly becomes a no-brainer in my opinion. I'd still be extremely tempted to give him a call, one way or another, though.

If the NEP bring him in, they need to be damn sure hes a big time difference maker on offense as he has zero special teams value.

 

[Danger Zone]

The sun rises....the sun sets....and we have our umpteenth Patsfans.com Larry Fitzgerald to the Pats speculation thread:

http://www.patsfans.com/new-england...-back-with-the-cardinals-next-season.1114652/

http://www.patsfans.com/new-england...s/rumor-larry-fitzgerald-to-the-pats.1112636/

http://www.patsfans.com/new-england...-14-larry-fitzgerald-just-fairy-tale.1095805/

http://www.patsfans.com/new-england.../threads/larry-fitzgerald-trade-news.1065781/

http://www.patsfans.com/new-england...sible-to-get-larry-fitzgerald-or-not.1011816/

http://www.patsfans.com/new-england...enario-larry-fitzgerald-or-tamba-hali.731732/

http://www.patsfans.com/new-england...the-pats-to-trade-for-larry-fitzgerald.79320/

http://www.patsfans.com/new-england-patriots/messageboard/threads/larry-fitzgerald.49668/

Now go add up all the Revis to the Pat's speculation threads...

 

[supafly]

If the NEP bring him in, they need to be damn sure hes a big time difference maker on offense as he has zero special teams value.

I would have to assume that an experienced coach like Belichick would be okay with the fact that he had a starter who did not offer ST capabilities, but yes--good point.

My personal guess is that this would fall rather low on the list of concerns, though.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Now go add up all the Revis to the Pat's speculation threads...

When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you

 

[supafly]

How about a pass rusher? The obsession with deep WRs is astounding to me.

Pass rushing LB/DEs are always a hot commodity, much like good CBs. I'm hoping that we've improved on these positions enough at the moment that a draft pick or two could justify the resources, rather than having to pay someone a lot of money. This is under the assumption and hope that Revis stays on.

As far as FA goes, an experienced all-pro like Fitzgerald doesn't come around too often, and we really do need to improve upon the lack of outside receiving options (even if it's not via such a drastic/luxurious manner).

Of course, I'd have a hard time believing that a guy like Belichick would be okay with paying double digit millions per year AAV, so the point is probably moot unless they could reach a fair middle ground.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I would have to assume that an experienced coach like Belichick would be okay with the fact that he had a starter who did not offer ST capabilities, but yes--good point.

My personal guess is that this would fall rather low on the list of concerns, though.

Its all about the value of the roster spot and the production derived from it as it relates to cap space, salary and correlating to wins.

I think with this team, its a big factor in their decision making.

The less you play in the offense and defense, the more you play on ST.

The more productive you are on offense and defense, the less you play on ST.

If Fitz doesn't play ST, he needs to have pretty close to Gronk-like production on offense.

 

[RobertWeathers]

How about a pass rusher? The obsession with deep WRs is astounding to me.

Fitzy is not just a deep threat.

 

[Miguel]

If Fitzgerald does not like his role on the Cards, why would he like his role on the Patriots ? He would be behind Gronk and Edelman and maybe Lafell.

He is due $61.5 million in cash over the next 4 years.
How much of a discount from that does we expect Fitzgerald to give to the Patriots?

 

[supafly]

Its all about the value of the roster spot and the production derived from it as it relates to cap space, salary and correlating to wins.

I think with this team, its a big factor in their decision making.

The less you play in the offense and defense, the more you play on ST.

The more productive you are on offense and defense, the less you play on ST.

If Fitz doesn't play ST, he needs to have pretty close to Gronk-like production on offense.

As I mentioned in my 4 reasons, it would allow us to solve the issue with having a lack of outside receiving threat, which is the primary reason why Rex Ryan's defense has kept the last 4/5 games extremely close (he said as much a couple of weeks ago).

We're not lacking for special teams players. We're lacking for an outside receiving threat and experienced vet top tier receiver. The issue is that Belichick won't risk the kind of gamble on someone who may not be able to pick up our complicated system, fit into the locker room, or have off the field issues. Fitzgerald doesn't fall into these categories.

I do not believe that many of the top tier WRs around the league play on their teams' special teams units, so I wouldn't see this as nearly the kind of problem that you may. We'd still have Edelman, LaFell, and one of Dobson/Tyms (along with Slater) as WRs who play on special teams.

 

[ausbacker]

It begs the question, Josh Gordon for a draft pick or Larry Fitzgerald on the open market? Two of our favorite topics combined.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

How about a pass rusher? The obsession with deep WRs is astounding to me.

Before we talk pass rushers...we need to talk Revis and Mccourty along with Ayers and Branch. Then all else falls in

And Fitz is a lot more then a deep threat...

 

[supafly]

If Fitzgerald does not like his role on the Cards, why would he like his role on the Patriots ? He would be behind Gronk and Edelman and maybe Lafell.

I believe that if a guy like Fitzgerald came in, he wouldn't be behind more than ONE of these players--probably either Edelman or Gronk, and even that would typically change from time to time.

I think his supposed disgust with ARZ has much more to do with "just" the fact that he had lows in all of receptions, yardage, and touchdowns since his rookie year of 2004. Just my opinion, though.

As you point out, the financial compensation would obviously be the biggest obstacle to try and overcome, and would likely be exactly why he doesn't end up coming here.

A reasonable argument could be made that we could see much better value with the current situation if a lower/middle tier outside WR came in and produced 1/2 as much as Larry Fitzgerald would. Of course, finding that player is quite difficult, whereas Fitzgerald would pretty much be a sure thing.

 

[RobertWeathers]

If Fitzgerald does not like his role on the Cards, why would he like his role on the Patriots ? He would be behind Gronk and Edelman and maybe Lafell.

He is due $61.5 million in cash over the next 4 years.
How much of a discount from that does we expect Fitzgerald to give to the Patriots?

He would need to take a huge cut in pay. $12m/2yr sounds about right.

He needs to be open to playing all positions in the offense.

With that said, I highly doubt he comes here.

 

[supafly]

It begs the question, Josh Gordon for a draft pick or Larry Fitzgerald on the open market? Two of our favorite topics combined.

I think the issue will quickly become having to pay Josh Gordon either the same as Fitzgerald, if not even more.

I don't know how it's going to play out as to whether or not Gordon is a FA in 2016 or not, but giving up a high draft pick may not be worth one year of service.

With LF, you know exactly what you're getting. In the meantime, I wouldn't mind one guaranteed year of headcase Gordon at the right price either

 

[RobertWeathers]

As I mentioned in my 4 reasons, it would allow us to solve the issue with having a lack of outside receiving threat, which is the primary reason why Rex Ryan's defense has kept the last 4/5 games extremely close (he said as much a couple of weeks ago).

I agreed with your 4 reasons- and your last paragraph. Fitzy still has gas in the tank. The question is would Brady have time to throw to him?

We're not lacking for special teams players. We're lacking for an outside receiving threat and experienced vet top tier receiver. The issue is that Belichick won't risk the kind of gamble on someone who may not be able to pick up our complicated system, fit into the locker room, or have off the field issues. Fitzgerald doesn't fall into these categories.

I agree but its all about value of the roster spot, salary, cap space, flexibility and contribution to winning. Amendola returned 1 K/P last year. This year - 36. That is an example. They lose that in 2015. Where do they make it up? That type of swiss army knife player is really important to BB.

I do not believe that many of the top tier WRs around the league play on their teams' special teams units, so I wouldn't see this as nearly the kind of problem that you may. We'd still have Edelman, LaFell, and one of Dobson/Tyms (along with Slater) as WRs who play on special teams.

I think if the Pats didn't have LaFell, they'd be a little more enticed to go after Fitzy.

 

[kennyb]

He's due 16m next year i think 8m roster and 8m salary. Now why would he give ne a huge discount and not give the same discount to arizona? In which case he'd stay there. He knows their system cold and arizona looked very good until palmer got hurt.