Green: Fitzgerald wants how much? Doesn't matter

$18 million.

The number, on its own, is simply staggering. It also happens to be, if some reports are to be believed, Larry Fitzgerald's per-year asking price to re-sign with the Arizona Cardinals.

If you are a reporter or a fan, you pause at best, double-take at worst when you read that. If you are the Arizona Cardinals, the proper reaction is getting the contract ready and signed, because what Fitz wants Fitz should get.

For the Cardinals it basically comes down to being unable to afford actually not paying their best player. While winning teams are rarely - if ever - build around wide receivers, the reality in the desert is that without #11 there is very little left on the offensive side of the football.

Now, I know what you might be thinking. You may feel that without a competent quarterback a player like Fitzgerald does not carry much of an impact, and that's true to an extent. It's no coincidence that Fitzgerald's most productive years came with Kurt Warner at quarterback, while his numbers took a significant drop with the Anderson/Hall/Skelton/Bartel quartet this past season. And, let's be honest, the Cardinals could have had Andre and Calvin Johnson on the field with Fitzgerald and it would not have made a damn bit of difference since nobody would have been able to get them the ball. However, you do not trade a great wide receiver just because you do not have a quarterback, as something about cutting off your nose to spite your face comes to mind.

Even in a down year Fitzgerald was the one, and maybe only, player defenses feared and geared their game plan towards. Even then the 27-year-old posted a 90 catches, 1,137 yards and 6 touchdowns season. While not great, certainly not bad, and one has to think we'll see the numbers we've become accustom to once the Cardinals find so much as a competent quarterback.

Of course, paying $18 million to a receiver may limit what the team could offer a new quarterback. I get that. I also understand that the Cardinals saved a lot of money this last season, presumably preparing for a lockout-shortened season. Well, assuming there will be football then the Bidwill's can loosen the purse strings once again and add the pieces necessary to compete.

If ownership needs a different motivation to keep Fitzgerald it would certainly come in the form of perception. Long known as willing to let key players go as long as the bottom line was taken care of the team's renaissance (can you really have a renaissance if you never had good times before?) allowed them to bask in the glow of success and the accolades that come with it. Then, a disastrous season followed the departure of key players Karlos Dansby, Antrel Rolle and Anquan Boldin, who all left for greener pastures. And by greener I mean filled with more money. Failing to retain Fitzgerald would not only lead to losses on the field, but likely be the final straw in any transformation the Cardinals organization had in mind.

Because, after all, you do no let franchise players just walk out the door - just ask Suns owner Robert Sarver how that has turned out. You build around them, doing everything you can to not only keep them happy but also make them successful. Larry Fitzgerald is not only the team's franchise player, but he is a positive face of an organization that has had very little cache among anyone outside Arizona, and until recent years didn't really have much within the state's boarders either.

While $18 million may seem like a lot of money, it is pennies when you measure Larry Fitzgerald's impact to the Arizona Cardinals. Let him walk out the door after the 2011 season? You can't. Trade him for draft picks because you don't want to give in to his contract demands? You better not. Pay the man.

Adam can be reached with your questions and comments by e-mail here, and you can follow him on Twitter @theAdamGreen