Eagles "Going Hard" after Larry Fitzgerald

According to a story on GCobb.com, the Eagles are "going after Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald pretty hard". We have been hearing rumors about this situation for a few weeks, so this is just more confirmation of the Eagles' interest. The Cardinals are reluctant to keep the star receiver because of how much salary cap space he will take up. His current contract pays him 14.5 million next season and over 17 million in 2009. Fitzgerald is not a free agent, so if the Eagles want him, he would have to be acquired in a trade.

Fitzgerald would look really good in an Eagles uniform, and would make the offense potent. He has had over 100 catches twice in his career. Fitzgerald had made recent comments that he might sign a long term deal with the Cardinals that would reduce his salary cap number, so if that happens all possible deals are off. I have no idea what it would take to get him, maybe a first round pick and a couple of solid young players, but whatever the price, he would be worth it. If he is made available, there will be a slew of teams making offers which will drive up the price. Of all the players rumored to be headed to Philly, he is the most exciting because of his ability and because he is only 24. Trades in the NFL are rare, however, so this is definitely a remote possibility.

I have made my opinions of the Eagles reluctance to spend money known recently, and this is another situation where they would have to go out of character to get what they want. For all of the players linked to the Eagles this offseason (Asante Samuel, Randy Moss, Chad Johnson), it would require the front office to step up and change their philosophy. It would have to mirror what the Patriots did last off-season, where they opened up the wallet and spent a ton of money to get Tom Brady the weapons he needed on offense. If the Eagles are dedicated to making one last run with Donovan McNabb, they owe it to themselves to pursue every avenue for available players, regardless of their price tag.