Coach Kingsbury On Fitzgerald: 'The Ball's In His Court'

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald has still not declared to the team or anyone for that matter whether he'll return for an 18th NFL season in 2021.

Fitzgerald, who will turn 38 in August, is still currently an unsigned, unrestricted free agent, but if he does play in 2021, all parties believe it will be with the Cardinals, the only team he's ever suited up for.

On Tuesday, Cards coach Kliff Kingsbury stated that right now, the decision is all up to Fitzgerald and that the team feels good whether 'Fitz' comes back for season 18 or not.

“The ball’s in his court,” he said via the Arizona Republic. “We feel like we have great depth in that group, regardless, but we’ll have a plan either way."

The contract for Fitzgerald expired in March, meaning that he's an unrestricted free agent, and it sounds like any talks that may have taken place since that time haven't progressed much.

“We’ve left it in his court,” Kingsbury said Tuesday.

“He’s earned that. That’s how we felt as an organization and so that’s where it’s at.”

Fitzgerald is a sure-fire first-ballot Hall of Famer, as over his career the former 2004 first-round pick has an impressive 1,432 catches for 17,492 yards -- an average of 12.2 yards per catch -- and 121 touchdowns.













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Matt has been a part of the Cleveland Sports landscape working in the media since 1994 when he graduated from broadcasting school. His coverage beats include the Cleveland Indians, Cleveland Browns and Cleveland Cavaliers. He's written three books, and won the "2020 AP Sports Stringer Lifetime Service Award."