Patrick Peterson Says He Wants To Be “Cardinal For Life”

Cardinals CB Patrick Peterson said Friday during an interview with Sirius XM NFL Radio that he wants to be a “Cardinal for life.” Although, he left the door open for things to change.

“Yeah, I would love to be a Cardinal for life, but things happen,” Peterson said when asked if he was ready to remain in Arizona. “Hell, something could change next month. The things happen not only in football, but in the world in general. So, I would love to be a Cardinal for life. I would love to be one of those guys to bring this organization its first championship.”

Peterson explained that the past year has been really hard for him with a new defensive system and a PED suspension.

“So it was just a lot of whirlwind going on last year,” Peterson said. “And I was just frustrated. I love Arizona. I definitely want to be there. Just that time of the year, last year, like I said, it was just very, very tough to deal with. But as being one of the leaders, I definitely felt it shouldn’t have gone that way. But people upstairs can trade players and try to shop players around whenever they need to. So I didn’t see what was wrong with me asking for a trade at the time. So it kind of works both ways.

“But right now I’m in a very, very happy place with the team. All of this is behind us right now, obviously. And something new just came up with me being suspended the first six games. But you know, I’m a man. I have to lick my wounds and be able to move forward from all of this. I have moved forward, and I’m ready to see what the future has for me.”

Peterson had been the subject of trade rumors during the offseason before his suspension. 

A source close to Peterson told Kent Somers that someone in Cardinals management said something to Peterson that “pissed him off.”

When asked if it was enough to lead to a potential trade, Somers’ source said: “I don’t think it’s that big of a deal … yet.”

Last year, Peterson requested a trade out of Arizona. He later apologized for making the request and the Cardinals have said that he’s part of their future long-term. 

The Cardinals are planning to go back to a 3-4 defense that helped them better utilize their defensive talent in 2019 with Vance Joseph now in place as the team’s defensive coordinator.

Peterson, 28, is a former first-round pick of the Cardinals back in 2011. He’s currently in the fifth year of his seven-year, $83.02 million that included $48 million guaranteed and set to make base salaries of $11 million over the next two years of the agreement.

In 2018, Peterson appeared in all 16 games for the Cardinals and recorded 54 tackles, one sack, two interceptions, a fumble recovery and five pass defenses. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 5 cornerback out of 112 qualifying players.