As the Arizona Cardinals prepare to face off with the Carolina Panthers Saturday in one of two NFL Wild Card Playoff games, emotions have begun to build and hopeful fan expectations are now tempered by the tightening bonds of a Ryan Lindley-led reality.
While the Cardinals, despite preparing to start the backup to their backup at quarterback, have every chance of defeating the Panthers and advancing to the NFC postseason's second round, the opposite is also very possible.
Regardless of the outcome, the future seems bright for the NFL's desert-based team - its defense is unbelievably stout, even after having suffered a plethora of injuries to key starters, and its offense, sans starting quarterback Carson Palmer, still boasts a number of high-quality weapons.
One of those weapons, long-time Cardinal wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, may not be long for Arizona, though.
Sources close to the situation tell Craig Morgan of FOXSports.com that Fitzgerald, who has spent his entire 11-year career with the Cardinals, doesn't expect to be back with the team next season.
"It has not crossed my mind," Fitzgerald said Wednesday after the Cardinals practice. "I'm in the midst of an opportunity that doesn't come too often, so all my energy and everything is focused on helping my team win."
The Cardinals and general manager Steve Keim have said they expect Fitzgerald to retire a Cardinal. But with the veteran receiver carrying a ridiculous $23.6 million cap hit for next season, which amounts to nearly 17 percent of the team's cap, something will have to give.
"I don't think it's any secret that we've said all along it's our intent to have Larry Fitzgerald retire a Cardinal," Keim told Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. "I don't want to get into it too deep, but with planning purposes, financially, from a cap standpoint, all those sorts of things, we have Larry's number already baked into our numbers."
"We've had ongoing talks with (Fitzgerald's agent) Eugene Parker, and we will continue to have ongoing talks," Keim added. "Even though it's still not 2015, it's my job to look at 2015, '16, '17 and years beyond, and we have to make good business decisions."
Fitzgerald, however, may force the team to trade him by refusing to take a pay cut - something he's already done in the past.
He's reportedly unhappy with his now slot-based, secondary role in the offense.
He leads the team in receptions (63) and is second in receiving yardage (784), but he would prefer to again be the focal point of an offense.
He's still extremely talented, so a Fitzgerald trade may be possible, but not many teams will be willing to take on a salary that counts for almost one-fifth of the team's $141 million salary cap.
