Cardinals future Hall of Fame wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald may be more likely to opt to walk away from football if Cards quarterback Carson Palmer does the same.
That report came Sunday from NFL insider Ian Rapoport, who said the team hopes to learn by mid-February what both players' plans are.
"A source informed of Fitz's thinking said that if Palmer walks away, it might be harder for Fitzgerald to return unless he knows who will replace Palmer," Rapoport wrote.
"Neither has told the team if he plans to return, though both Palmer and Fitzgerald have had frequent conversations with coaches and team decision-makers about it, sources said."
We've known for several months that Fitzgerald would consider retiring after the 2016 season, but the news on Palmer's possible retirement is a bit more surprising, as Palmer said as recently as mid-December that he planned to play in 2017.
"Another factor in Palmer's decision is that Cardinals quarterbacks coach Freddie Kitchens is now a running backs coach and the new QBs coach -- Byron Leftwich -- is someone Palmer hasn't worked with," Rapoport wrote.
Fitzgerald is currently scheduled to make $11 million next season while Palmer is set to make $17.5 million.
