**ALL THOSE CONTRACT EXTENSIONS**
Part of Fitzgerald's legacy was his contracts. Sure, there was the monetary part of it – according to Spotrac, Fitz made better than $180 million in his 17 Cardinals seasons, and [like Jeremiyah Love,](https://x.com/Cardschatter/status/2052838325304860697) I'm not sure he ever touched it, instead living on other income – but also the way they came down.
His first extension, in 2008, was a four-year, $40M deal ($10M a year for an in-prime star? How quaint) that came up against a deadline. A deadline of Fitzgerald traveling to South America. The Cardinals were in a bad salary cap place with Fitzgerald's final rookie contract year cap hit (in those days, no slotted rookie deals) and needed to get the extension done. GM Rod Graves went to Sky Harbor airport to get it signed; Fitz did a conference call with reporters before his flight in lieu of a press conference.
There was the next extension, which he signed on a Saturday evening on his way to dinner and did the press conference right then before [undoubtedly heading for some tony steakhouse](https://www.azcardinals.com/news/new-8-year-contract-for-fitzgerald-5541242) or something. And then there were all those final years, when Fitz was signing one-year deals for the final four seasons of his career.
"What was special about Larry, and it was not lost on us, when we were doing his contracts … he was more than a regular player," Graves told me. "He was an ambassador for our team, an ambassador for the league, we were dealing with a once-in-a-(GM)-career type of player. We were focused on him retiring as an Arizona Cardinal.
"We knew there was a heavy price to pay for that, but he brought such joy and excitement, class, to the organization that in my opinion, he was worth every dime he got out of football."