Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald told CSNPhilly.com on Friday that the Philadelphia Eagles offered the Cardinals a first- and a third-round draft choice for him in 2008. Read more after the jump.
The story doesn’t say what kept the trade from happening, and does not include a comment from anyone in the Eagles’ organization.
According to the report, the perennial All-Pro, drafted third overall by the Cardinals in 2004 out of Pittsburgh, was a strain on the team’s salary cap at the time. He was due to make $14.6 million in 2008 and $17.3 million in 2009.
But then he signed a new four-year deal reportedly worth $40 million — with a no-trade clause — in March 2008 (he signed an eight-year, $120 million extension in 2011).
As for the Eagles, they were notoriously weak at the wide receiver position in the mid-2000s. Terrell Owens helped them get to a Super Bowl in the 2004 season, but he soon was gone, leaving the team with the likes of Reggie Brown, Kevin Curtis and Greg Lewis by 2007.
The trade for Fitzgerald drastically would have altered the NFL landscape — particularly during the 2008 season, which wound up with the Cardinals defeating the Eagles in the NFC Championship Game, 32-25, behind 152 yards and three touchdowns from Fitzgerald.
The two teams — both 2-0 this season — meet again in Arizona on Sunday.
