Larry Fitzgerald returning to Cardinals is music to Josh Rosen’s ears

Larry Fitzgerald is returning to the desert for a 16th season. Can he help Josh Rosen and the Arizona Cardinals bounce back in 2019?

Josh Rosen’s life just got a lot easier, at least for the 2019 NFL season. Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, who ranks second in NFL history in career receiving yards and third in career receptions, signed a one-year contract on Wednesday that will bring him back for his 16th season with the team that originally drafted him in 2004.

His presence should give Rosen, Arizona’s starting quarterback and first-round pick from a year ago, a reliable presence in the passing game as the team installs a new offense.

New head coach Kliff Kingsbury will appreciate what Fitzgerald does on the field — Larry has still been productive in his later years, despite finishing this season with under 800 receiving yards for the first time since 2014 — but his leadership qualities and experience will provide continuity in the locker room that the rookie head coach needs in his first season with the team.

Fitzgerald is banking on Kingsbury to get the offense back on track as the 35-year-old pass catcher only needs 23 catches to move past tight end Tony Gonzalez for the second-most career receptions. He trails the career leader, Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice, by 246 catches.

The Cardinals are hoping that they can bounce back from their rough 2018 season quickly with a quarterback-friendly coach and a young signal caller, a recurring theme around the league.

The Rams paired Sean McVay with Jared Goff and the Bears hired Matt Nagy to work with Mitchell Trubisky and both teams went to the playoffs immediately.

Both head coaches were in their first year with the team while both quarterbacks were in their second year, providing a blueprint that Arizona is hoping to replicate in 2019 with Kingsbury and Rosen.

Fitzgerald has familiarity with fast turnarounds, playing for a Cardinals team that failed to make the playoffs in 2007 but found themselves playing for their first-ever Super Bowl in 2008.

He smashed records that postseason, finishing with over 100 receiving yards and a touchdown in four straight playoff games while providing several game-changing plays that propelled the team to Super Bowl XLIII.

The team would eventually lose to the Pittsburgh Steelers despite Fitzgerald’s heroic efforts.

Can the Cardinals turn things around in 2019? Only time will tell. If there’s any way it can happen, it will have to be with Larry Fitzgerald leading the way.