Two reasons why Larry Fitzgerald likely won't be returning to the Cardinals this season

With DeAndre Hopkins reportedly heading to a surgical room and injured reserve because of a knee injury, the Cardinals have a need at receiver.

With a 3-3 record since winning their first seven games, the Cardinals need a jolt of electricity.

So, it’s no surprise some fans and members of the media are calling for Larry Fitzgerald to return and help his old team in the last month of the regular season and the playoffs.

I would like to see that, too, because I’m all in favor of good stories. They're fun and good for business.

And Fitzgerald returning for an 18th season NFL season would be the top story of 2021 in those lists newspapers and websites do every December.

Never saying never is a policy I endorse. But the odds of Fitz returning for the final four regular season games plus playoffs are roughly equivalent to the chance the guy running the Christmas tree lot in a Hallmark holiday movie turns out to be a serial killer.

Fitzgerald isn't coming back, and there are two main reasons for that:

—Fitzgerald has given no indications that he wants to play football again.

—He’s 38 and not nearly as good at football as he once was.

Let’s take a deeper look at both of those.

Fitzgerald spent 17 years in the NFL living on a schedule set by others, and time is now on his side. He can spend it traveling, golfing, playing pickleball, watching the Suns, watching his sons or binging Hallmark movies.

From what I hear, he's never been happier. He appears done with football, and I doubt the possibility of winning a Super Bowl ring holds enough allure to change that.

Judging by how Fitzgerald looks courtside at Suns games, he has not let himself go, physically. But I also doubt he’s worked out daily with the thought of returning to play in the back of his head.

Until his last couple seasons, Fitzgerald rarely missed practices, whether they were organized team activities in the spring, training camp in the summer or during the weeks of the regular season.

To play well, he believed he needed to practice whenever possible. Fitzgerald hasn’t practiced playing football in nearly a year, so I don’t envision him believing he could just show up at the Cardinals facility and be ready to play in December or January.

As for the second reason, I’m dubious how much Fitzgerald could contribute to the Cardinals. Statistically, last season was his worst with career lows in catches, yards, touchdowns and yards per catch.

His signature play from last season? Quickly getting the ball to an official late in the first half against the 49ers, enabling the Cardinals to attempt a field goal.

A lot was made of that play, but Fitzgerald didn’t see the reason for the fuss. It’s what he was supposed to do, he said. He would have rather talked about his touchdown catches, but he had only one of those.

Where would he fit in the current Cardinals lineup? He would not replace Hopkins, the team’s No. 1 receiver, who mostly plays outside.

Putting Fitzgerald in the slot would displace Christian Kirk and Rondale Moore. Their speed and quickness from that position have made the Cardinals passing game more productive this season.

Fitzgerald would bring some juice to the locker room, no doubt, and to State Farm Stadium, where the Cardinals have played their worst games this season.

But that influence likely would wane when everyone saw how little Fitzgerald would be used. Last season, he averaged four receptions a game and 7.6 yards per catch. Those numbers likely wouldn’t increase if Fitzgerald joined the team this late in the season.

Having witnessed nearly every one of Fitzgerald’s 1,432 NFL receptions, I get why people want to see him play one more time. At home, he was a maestro whose clutch catches commanded everyone in attendance to rise from their seats.

And it’s not silly to raise the possibility of his return, because Fitzgerald left that door open when he ghosted us by not holding a tearful press conference or writing an essay for the Players Tribune, or posting on social media.

Via text this week, I asked him about the possibility of playing for the Cardinals this year. He response was that he hoped my family and I were having a great holiday season.

We are, and I’m guessing Fitz is, too. He seems fine not playing football. He went to great lengths to exit the game quietly, so I doubt he would want the attention his return would get.

It’s not the Hallmark ending some were hoping for, but it will have to do.

Reach Kent Somers at Kent.Somers@gannett.com. Follow him on twitter @kentsomers. Hear Somers every Monday and Friday at 7:30 a.m. on The Drive with Jody Oehler on Fox Sports 910 AM.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Somers: Larry Fitzgerald won't put a Hallmark ending on his career