The Arizona Cardinals have already lost defensive coordinator Todd Bowles this offseason. Now, Patrick Peterson is trying to keep fellow cornerback Antonio Cromartie from leaving the desert.
Cromartie joined the Cardinals last season on a one-year deal after spending the previous four seasons with the Jets, who just happen to be the team that hired Bowles as its head coach. Could the four-time Pro Bowler follow Bowles back to New York? He may already may have his bags packed.
“That’s all he talks about is freaking New York,” Peterson told ESPN.com’s Josh Weinfuss. “I’m definitely trying to get him to stay and we’ll see what happens.”
The Jets, who had one of the worst secondaries in the league last season, may want Cromartie back. If so, it sounds like the feeling would be mutual.
“It’s attractive,” Cromartie said. “My house is there, so it’s attractive. But if that doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen.
“At the end of the day, I got to make sure that my options are open and making sure that whatever decision I make, that it’s related to my family and making sure we’re making the right decision not only for me but also for them. It not only affects me, it affects them also with changing schools and for my kids and everything.”
Peterson may be facing a very tough sell. After all, Cromartie has an awful lot of kids he might have to uproot and move to another city.
Cromartie, who will turn 31 in April, made his fourth Pro Bowl appearance this year after notching four interceptions with the Cardinals. He’ll surely be looking for more than the $3.5 million he earned.
