Do Players Have A Role In Picking Teammates?

A report recently surfaced that Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald is involved in the team’s search for their next starting quarterback. Fitzgerald is entering the last year of his deal and the team has asked him for his opinion, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Schefter reports that Fitzgerald’s top choice is Eagles backup quarterback Kevin Kolb, and he has also mentioned Ravens backup Marc Bulger.

Head coach Ken Whisenhunt confirmed that the team has asked for opinions, but wanted to make it very clear that what Fitzgerald wants is not necessarily what he will get.

“Larry is obviously not making the decisions,” Whisenhunt told the Arizona Republic. “There’s a lot of things that guys want that they don’t necessarily get. That’s why I have individual meetings with them to get their ideas. It would make sense to at least talk to some of your players.”

That raises an interesting question. How often do team’s star players get involved in the search for their new teammates? It makes too much sense to cater to your stars. You want to keep them happy and in a guy like Fitzgerald’s case, if you want to keep the player on your team long term you would want them to be happy.

There is no way to keep a wide receiver happier than to let them select their next quarterback.

It could be a bad move for team unity, but it is a good move for the future of your franchise. One of the most important relationships in a locker room is that between receiver and quarterback. Quarterbacks and receivers have to have a relationship that runs deeper than football. They have to have a certain amount of trust to really reach the elite level.

If Fitzgerald is out campaigning for a certain quarterback and he gets him, the quarterback automatically has respect of the team’s offensive star when he joins the roster.  At the same time, the quarterback could then be viewed as an outsider. A hand-picked player that could have a sense of entitlement.

How important do you think it is for a player to pick his teammates? Does it happen more than we know? Will Fitzgerald get his way or will the team take the best available rookie quarterback in this year’s draft? These are all questions that need to be answered, and the Arizona Cardinals have a big decision ahead of them.