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Larry Fitzgerald, 15,000 and the future

With his 113 yards last week, Larry Fitzgerald surpassed the 15,000-yard mark in his career. It's significant in and of itself, since only five other players have ever reached that milestone in their careers. It's even better for Fitz when he became only the second player ever to have that many yards with one team. Jerry Rice -- the NFL's all-time receiving yards leader, by far, with 22,895 -- had 19,247 in his time with the 49ers alone.

Fitz is having another excellent year, one magnified by the fact he's 34. He needs only 227 more yards to put himself third all-time in the NFL, past Randy Moss. (He doesn't figure to get another 869 yards this season needed to pass Terrell Owens into second place.) Fitz remains some 50-plus catches ahead of the also-active Jason Witten as having the third-most receptions in NFL history.

The move up the all-time lists, though, makes me think back to the interviews Fitz was giving last season. He is currently 140 catches behind Tony Gonzalez, who is second all-time. (Rice is 364 ahead.) He could shave the Gonzalez lead down to about 100 or so by the end of 2017, but he made clear "I don't plan on playing that long to catch those guys" just last season. And in the grand scheme, you are reminded again that Fitzgerald has a future to think about, and that his contract runs out at the end of the season. This, by the way, is the latest Fitzgerald has ever gone in his career not having a contract in place for the following season.

UPDATE: How's this for coincidence. PFT is reporting Fitz and the Cardinals are closing in on a one-year extension. It would not mean Fitzgerald definitely would play in 2018. But if he does, it makes sure it's with the Cardinals -- as if that was ever really a question.

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