Patrick Peterson has fired his agent, Patrick Lawlor, two months before he is expected to begin discussing an extension with the Arizona Cardinals.

Peterson is widely expected to be made the NFL's highest-paid defensive player in the NFL, with as much as $50 million guaranteed.

Peterson was the fifth overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft.

Lawlor took aim at the NFL Players Association on Tuesday night for what he believes is fostering an environment where Lawlor says agents consistently go outside the union's rules to convince a player to switch representation.

"Do I believe whoever signs [Peterson] offered him a financial inducement to sign him? Yes," Lawlor said. "Only time will tell. But that has been the trend that has been going on where these agents have been stealing clients from other agents by offering them 'marketing guarantees.' It's completely preposterous. It's gotten out of hand but the NFLPA totally disregards it. They don't see it as some type of inducement when it absolutely is. They say in their rules and regulations that you can't provide compensation to players to lure them in as clients, and yet it happens all the time."

Peterson is expected to sign with Joel Segal of Lagardere Unlimited.