Adam Schefter of the NFL Network is reporting that Larry Fitzgerald has stated that he'd be willing to restructure his contract so that the Arizona Cardinals give Anquan Boldin a new contract. Fitzgerald signed a 4 year, $40 million dollar deal this offseason, in an effort to help the Cardinals out of a cap-crunch and it sounds like he's ready to do it again. Hopefully Fitzgerald's willingness to take less money and be a team player will rub off on Boldin and he'll accept slightly less than market value.
There isn't a single quote from Fitzgerald in the story and no one else has picked it up yet. I'm assuming that he was asked this during media day, but we'll keep an eye to see if any other outlets report the same thing.
Update: Darren Urban has posted his thoughts on the subject and even though he didn't hear it, he's assuming that it's true (I'm sure there video out there some where). It did sound like Urban was trying to downplay the comments though by saying.....
I'm sure it was done with the right intentions (although restructuring by a player usually means additional money or at the least moving money into a player's hands quicker, so Fitz would get a benefit). But the Boldin question isn't just about the money. It's the money the Cards are willing to spend at the position when other parts of the team (QB Kurt Warner, LB Karlos Dansby, S Adrian Wilson, for example) also need tending. It's the money Boldin is willing to play for, and whether he is still willing to stick around.
Update: Mike Sando gets a completely different vibe from Fitzgerald's comments:
Fitzgerald to reporters Wednesday: "I'm not really sure where that report came from. Someone asked me a question if I would be willing to do something to help the team and I said, 'No problem.' This opportunity right here to be playing deep in the postseason, this is an amazing feeling. I'll do whatever it takes to get back to this point going forward in my career."
"Whatever it takes" should not require altering his contract, even though the deal is scheduled to count more than $10.5 million against the Cardinals' salary caps in each of the next three seasons. Boldin is scheduled to earn $8.75 million over the remaining two seasons of the deal he last extended in 2005.