Pro Bowl wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald signed a blockbuster four-year, $40 million contract with the Arizona Cardinals on Tuesday, helping free up much-needed salary-cap room for the team.

On his Web site, Fitzgerald said he will make $33 million over the first three years of the contract.

The contract also includes a no-trade clause, which means Fitzgerald would have to approve any move to another team.

"This is what I wanted to happen," he said on a conference call during an airport layover during a trip to South America. "There was a great deal of dialogue through this whole process and everybody got what they wanted."

Over the final two years of his old deal, Fitzgerald was scheduled to make $14,592,500 in 2008 and $17,355,000 in 2009. That put the team in a tight cap bind -- with less than $400,000 of cap room remaining -- so signing players was tough until Arizona struck a deal with Fitzgerald. The Cardinals had only 48 players on their roster and only 16 players on defense.

The team was trying to find a way to convince Fitzgerald to sign a six-year deal. In the end, Fitzgerald got his way and signed a four-year deal.