Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, who's entering the final year of his contract, disputes claims that the team is so desperate to keep him happy that he's advising coach Ken Whisenhunt and general manager Rod Graves in their search for a new quarterback.
"There's no truth to that at all," Fitzgerald said Friday via text to *The Arizona Republic*. "I have no criteria. The two sides haven't even sat down and talked. I have not talked to any coach on staff for six months. I'm like everybody else scrambling to make this season a success.
"There are much more pressing needs for our team than me. I'm under contract. My situation will work itself out. I'm not worried about it; the team shouldn't be, either. I want to be a Cardinal."
The Cardinals, who played four quarterbacks last season, have been widely speculated to be among the top suitors for Philadephia Eagles backup Kevin Kolb. More fuel was added to the fire Thursday, when FOXSportsArizona.com cited a source in reporting that Fitzgerald and Kolb worked out together earlier this month at Arizona State University.
Mike Jurecki of KGME-AM reported earlier this week that the Cardinals would offer cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, a 2008 first-round draft pick who made the Pro Bowl in 2009, as part of a deal to acquire Kolb after the NFL lockout ends.
Whisenhunt didn't exactly deny the speculation of a trade for Kolb, recently telling The Republic: "I don't even know where that speculation started about trading or what we're going to give up. We don't even know if they (the Eagles) are willing to do that. That's something that everybody speculates on."
What isn't open for speculation is that the Cardinals are prepared to make Fitzgerald the NFL's best-paid receiver in 2012. The five-time Pro Bowl receiver had 90 catches for 1,137 yards and six touchdowns last season for the Cardinals, who went from winning back-to-back NFC West titles to finishing 5-11 in a division that the Seattle Seahawks won with a 7-9 record.
