Teams hoping Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald would hit the open market in free agency were disappointed Wednesday when it was announced that the team had re-signed the star receiver to a two-year contract. The new deal reportedly pays Fitzgerald $22 million in guaranteed money over the next two seasons.
Fitzgerald was playing on the end of his old contract and would have made $16.25 million in 2015 and was due an $8 million roster bonus in March if the team couldn’t work out a new arrangement. Even though Fitzgerald had a down year in 2014, thanks in large part to poor quarterback play in the latter half of the season, he still led the team in third-down catches. Fitzgerald averaged 12.4 yards per catch.
Bostic lands in Minnesota
Former Green Bay Packers tight end and NFC Championship game goat Brandon Bostic wasn’t out of work long. Wednesday the Minnesota Vikings claimed Bostic off waivers. Bostic caught only two passes last season and the Vikings already have a crowded tight end position with Kyle Rudolph, Rhett Ellison and Chase Ford.
Bostic is still playing on his rookie contract and will receiver $585,000 this season from the Vikings if they keep him. Offensive coordinator Norv Turner loves pass-catching tight ends and has made stars of players in the past, going all the way back to Jay Novacek with the Dallas Cowboys to Antonio Gates in San Diego.
Safety Ryan Clark retires as Steeler
Ryan Clark, coming off a terrific season with the Washington Redskins in which he recorded 102 tackles, picked off a pass, recorded half a sack and made two fumble recoveries is calling it a career. Clark just finished his 13th year in the league and first with the Redskins after leaving Pittsburgh following the 2013 season as a free agent.
“I get an opportunity to retire as a Steeler, which is very important to me,” Clark said on Tuesday’s NFL Live broadcast on ESPN. “To be able to play with some of the greats in Troy Polamalu, James Harrison, (James) Farrior, the opportunity to play with Sean Taylor and to do things I never dreamed of. When I signed at LSU, I was just there to get an education. To have an opportunity to win a Super Bowl, play in another and play in a Pro Bowl, it’s been amazing.”
Clark retires at the top of his game with no discernible diminishing of skills. His 102 tackles this season is tied for the second-highest total of his career. Clark has recorded more than 100 tackles for four consecutive seasons. Clark entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the New York Giants in 2002. He played in two Super Bowls with the Steelers, winning one in 2009.
Redskins hand the starting quarterback job back to RGIII
Call off the search, the Washington Redskins have found their quarterback and it turns out it’s the same guy they were sick of looking at behind center last season. Wednesday head coach Jay Gruden told reporters that Robert Griffin III would enter 2015 as the presumptive starter.
“We’ll go into the season with Robert as our No. 1 guy,” Gruden said. “It’s up to Robert to continue to grow and mature as a quarterback and as a person. Moving forward we want to see improvement. It’s up to us as a staff to get more out of him.”
Griffin, Kirk Cousins and Colt McCoy all split time at quarterback for the Redskins last season because of injuries and poor performances. McCoy is a free agent and Cousins has made it clear that he wants to be traded if he didn’t get an open quarterback competition this offseason. McCoy, who could end up signing with another team, outplayed both the other quarterbacks in his five appearances, completing 71.1 percent of his passes for 1,057 yards and four touchdowns with three interceptions.
Sam Bradford Allowed to Seek Trade Options
In a move that is likely just part of the negotiation process for a contract extension, the St. Louis Rams have reportedly granted permission to Sam Bradford’s agent to look at possible trade possibilities, but finding a team that is willing to give the Rams what they want for the former Heisman Trophy winner is unlikely.
Sam Bradford has permission to seek a trade. Finding compensation to Rams' liking will be difficult. But his agent can speak to other teams
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) February 18, 2015
The Rams are working on a restructured more cap-friendly deal for Bradford, who is due to make $16.58 million in 2015 in the final year of his rookie deal. The Rams have made it clear all along that they want to keep Bradford, but want to reduce that number.
“Deleting a player isn’t the answer,” Rams GM Les Snead said at the NFL Combine Wednesday. “Let’s rehab him and see if he reaches his potential. Let’s get Sam healthy and then, once he’s healthy and ready to go, let him compete. I think he’s got a chance to be a heck of a starting quarterback.”
