Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin

Bills2083 · 01-28-2009, 04:10 PM

Fitzgerald is the definition of a classy/team player.
He is willing to restructure his contract to ensure that Boldin stays a Cardinal.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=090...s&confirm=true

vidae · 01-28-2009, 04:12 PM

This makes me like Larry Fitzgerald even more.

diabsoule · 01-28-2009, 04:14 PM

The more I learn about Larry Fitzgerald the more I like him.

Twiddler · 01-28-2009, 04:18 PM

That's good to see that possibly happen. As it would be awesome to see these two play together for a really long time, something that you don't see a lot anymore.

Menardo75 · 01-28-2009, 04:21 PM

Larry just let him go play somewhere in the AFC.

BeerBaron · 01-28-2009, 04:22 PM

<cue someone coming in to start an argument about how Fitzgerald somehow isnt a classy/team player....>

No?

Ok good, excellent idea by Fitz. He's becoming the anti-TO/CJ. Great play and a great teammate.

TheBuffaloBills · 01-28-2009, 04:24 PM

Is Larry Fitzgerald the definition of a class act?

regoob2 · 01-28-2009, 04:27 PM

Urlacher said he would do this to help keep Briggs. Good thing he didnt have too.

SeanTaylorRIP · 01-28-2009, 04:29 PM

Fitz has always been one of my faves since I first saw him at Pitt. It truly shows how much he cares about the team, because for his own personal legend it would benefit him to be the man but he saw Chris Carter and Randy Moss and knows how much better this team would be with Q there. Fitz lets Q act like the star but he in fact is the star. Takes nothing away from Q as I think he is a top 5 WR in the NFL in his own right. For me lots of fringe guys but Q, Fitz, and AJ are the 3 elite WR's in the NFL.

WinslowBodden · 01-28-2009, 04:29 PM

I wish every player thought like Fitz... He seems like a great guy and a great teammate.

BeerBaron · 01-28-2009, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by regoob2

Urlacher said he would do this to help keep Briggs. Good thing he didnt have too.

Tom Brady did the same a few years ago with the promise they would get him some better weapons on offense.

I like like the players who do these things. What can you do with 12 million a year that you couldnt with 10 million a year AND getting to keep a very talented teammate? (those numbers are just made up for an example...)

Vox Populi · 01-28-2009, 04:36 PM

Mooch can't handle Prime and Sapp. His demeanor is so different its hilarious. Its like a business man trying to hang with a pimp, its not going to work cause the business man can't do **** lol.

BlindSite · 01-28-2009, 04:42 PM

Classy move for sure, part of me thinks he won't exactly lose financially because of it though.

PACKmanN · 01-28-2009, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by regoob2

Urlacher said he would do this to help keep Briggs. Good thing he didnt have too.

Didn't he just ask for a raise?

Fitz is a good guy for doing this, hopefully he doesn't want a raise later on.

Geo · 01-28-2009, 04:44 PM

First off, restructuring doesn't equate to taking any less money overall.

Money btw in the form of a 4-year, $40M contract that Fitzgerald and his agent(s) essentially held the franchise hostage for last season.

In fact, Fitzgerald actually didn't say the exact word of restructuring himself, as Rotoworld explains when they had a chance to speak with him. And unless there's a major roster bonus to convert to a signing bonus, to prorate over the remaining life of his contract and make more cap room, there's little to no chance of any restructing.

Don't get me wrong, I love Fitz. He's been my #1 WR in the league way before his historic postseason run. But call it like it is, plus what's he supposed to say to the media about his teammate, right before the Super Bowl?

MetSox17 · 01-28-2009, 04:46 PM

I think this is a very thoughtful gesture by Fitzgerald, but it just goes to show how dick the Cardinals FO is treating Boldin. Just pay the man his money. In this game they cut your ass the second you become expendable, so you have to try to make every cent you can. I hope Boldin still demands a trade and signs for what his market value is, not just what they can fit under the cap in Arizona.

It's nice and all, and in an ideal world, things would work out for everyone, but these guys gotta get paid when they can. Fitzgerald shouldn't have to be sacrificing anything at all.

regoob2 · 01-28-2009, 05:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PACKmanN

Didn't he just ask for a raise?

Fitz is a good guy for doing this, hopefully he doesn't want a raise later on.

He wanted 1 more year.

BroadwayJoe10 · 01-28-2009, 07:20 PM

I wanna preface by saying that I absolutely love Fitzy and that I think he's a class act as a player. However, as GEO mentioned, he is the same player who held his franchise hostage when it came time to restructure his contract. This is by no fault of his own, because he was just a beast and reached every possible escalator in his rookie contract.

But the thing that this article fails to show is an actual quote of Fitzgerald saying that he will take less money to play. It is all 100% pure speculation on the part of the writer; Fitzy was asked whether he would do something to help his team and teamates and he said yes, but never agreed to take less money or restructure. This is also before he talked with his agent.

I love the guy as a player and he seems so soft-spoken and sincere in interviews, but if the reports were true that he did tossed his girlfriend by her hair across his room, than i would be quite disappointed. I understand they were play fighting and she hit him first, but i just get disappointed when players i like do **** like that.

skinzzfan25 · 01-28-2009, 07:25 PM

A restructure essentially means they cut him a check for the money now that the organization would be paying against the cap later.

I mean he's a good guy, but don't act like he's not getting paid.

TitanHope · 01-28-2009, 08:05 PM

I don't think he was being literal as he was making a statement. He's saying he values having Quan on the team and playing across from him more than the amount of money he's being given. Whether he means that or not, I dunno. Kinda hard to think he'd approach the FO and volunteer to give up some of the money that was just given to him after fighting for it for so long.

Rayray52 · 01-28-2009, 10:50 PM

Fitzgeralds contract is unique though, there is not a whole lot he can do to "re-structure" his contract because of the massive escalators and bonus's that were due to him he signed a 4 year 40 million dollar contract with 30 million guaranteed. The max amount he could save the contract would be 2.5 million against the cap and i doubt he would be willing to forego his entire base salary so although a nice gesture it wont have any impact on the retention of Boldin.

fenikz · 01-28-2009, 10:52 PM

http://draftcountdown.com/forum/show...51#post1459551

Paranoidmoonduck · 01-28-2009, 11:12 PM

Geo is right. I sort of doubt that Fitzgerald isn't going to get every cent Arizona has promised him, they'll just sneak it through on a roster bonus and mange Boldin's contract right so they don't get screwed. And it isn't like Fitzgerald doesn't have motivation to keep Boldin around. Anquan makes his life easier.

I don't want to talk on hearsay, but before everyone jumps on the Fitzgerald Love Bus, I've heard stories about his interactions off the football field that speak to a certain level of arrogance. I don't know exactly how true they are, but I trust them somewhat.

MasterShake · 01-28-2009, 11:13 PM

It will be sad to watch the two of them wither away in the football desert that is Arizona as they search for a QB for next few decades...

j05son · 01-29-2009, 02:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlindSite

Classy move for sure, part of me thinks he won't exactly lose financially because of it though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Geo

First off, restructuring doesn't equate to taking any less money overall.

Money btw in the form of a 4-year, $40M contract that Fitzgerald and his agent(s) essentially held the franchise hostage for last season.

In fact, Fitzgerald actually didn't say the exact word of restructuring himself, as Rotoworld explains when they had a chance to speak with him. And unless there's a major roster bonus to convert to a signing bonus, to prorate over the remaining life of his contract and make more cap room, there's little to no chance of any restructing.

Don't get me wrong, I love Fitz. He's been my #1 WR in the league way before his historic postseason run. But call it like it is, plus what's he supposed to say to the media about his teammate, right before the Super Bowl?

Quote:

Originally Posted by skinzzfan25

A restructure essentially means they cut him a check for the money now that the organization would be paying against the cap later.

I mean he's a good guy, but don't act like he's not getting paid.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paranoidmoonduck

Geo is right. I sort of doubt that Fitzgerald isn't going to get every cent Arizona has promised him, they'll just sneak it through on a roster bonus and mange Boldin's contract right so they don't get screwed. And it isn't like Fitzgerald doesn't have motivation to keep Boldin around. Anquan makes his life easier.

I don't want to talk on hearsay, but before everyone jumps on the Fitzgerald Love Bus, I've heard stories about his interactions off the football field that speak to a certain level of arrogance. I don't know exactly how true they are, but I trust them somewhat.

This. The cards should be in great shape, they have more than what, 40 million in cap space, I don't know how much more this is going to create. Boldin should get his, Warner should get his, and the Cards can still be aggressive in free agency.

Also, restructuring =/= less money.