Report: Fitzgerald urges Cardinals to pursue Kolb
Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald wouldn't mind catching passes from Kevin Kolb next season, according to a report by ESPN's Adam Schefter.
On ESPN's 12-hour pre-game show (OK, that's an exaggeration, but only slightly), Schefter said the Cardinals' front office has gone to Fitzgerald to get his take on who their next quarterback should be.
And according to the report, Fitzgerald's "first recommendation" was for Arizona to pursue a trade for Kolb.
Fitzgerald is entering the final year of his contract, and Arizona obviously wants to keep him happy.
The report is interesting because it speaks in part to Kolb's reputation around the league, even though he only has seven career starts under his belt.
Schefter said Fitzgerald also mentioned Marc Bulger's name to the Cardinals' brass. And it's worth noting that Donovan McNabb's name was not mentioned in the report.
Just last week in an interview with Dan Patrick, Kolb reiterated that he wants to start somewhere next season.
"I had a meeting with Andy, and told him that I feel like I'm prepared, I'm ready to take that next step. He knows," Kolb said.
Albert Breer of NFL Network wrote last week that he expects there to be plenty of interest in Kolb:
One way for the Seahawks to address their quarterbacking question could be to make another run at Kevin Kolb. And trust this: If Kolb is out there, there will be plenty of suitors for his services, and the Eagles will be able to extract a pretty hefty haul. Remember, the Browns and Seahawks made inquiries last offseason about Kolb but were rebuffed as it became clear the Eagles preference was to deal Donovan McNabb. Cleveland, of course, has insight because of GM Tom Heckert's Philadelphia roots, while Seattle was another West Coast offense team that figured Kolb's transition could be a smooth one. The Browns' interest might be gone because of the emergence of Colt McCoy, but other pursuers that weren't around, like the Cardinals, 49ers and Vikings, could be in the running this time. Makes sense, right, that a 26-year-old quarterback with an Andy Reid pedigree would be in demand? Of course it does. So expect the price to be pretty steep.
Of course, as you know by now, trades will be tricky this offseason until the new CBA is in place. If there's no agreement by the draft in April, suitors for Kolb would not be allowed to include 2011 picks in any potential deals.
And the Eagles could end up deciding to hold on to Kolb, who has one more year remaining on his contract.
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