We have been hearing these rumors for 2 years now, but there is a buzz going around the NFL that the Boldin trade will happen this offseason.
The asking price?
Only a 2nd round pick. The reason a trade hasn't been done yet is because the biggest offer they have got is for a 3rd rounder. Boldin is totally worth a 2nd round pick. You have to wonder if the Patriots will have their hand in this, since they have 3 2nd round picks. I honestly wouldn't be surprised to see Boldin or Marshall in a Patriots uniform next year.
Still, there are a lot of other teams that should have interest like the Bears, Lions, Panthers, Ravens, Chiefs, ect.
There have been rumors about a Boldin trade since last offseason. He has come out and stated that he will not demand a trade this offseason, but from the reports I have been reading the Cardinals are shopping him anyways.
All the teams you would suspect are being rumored (Bucs, Chiefs, Dolphins, Jags, Lions, Panthers and Ravens). All of them make sense, but now there is a rumor that the Patriots might be interested.
Last offseason the Cardinals were offered a 3rd round pick from a couple of teams for Boldin, but they turned it down. A lot of "insiders" seem to think that Arizona is now more willing to listen to offers that may be a little lower then his actual value (probably a 2nd round pick). My guessing is that these rumors are started because of how many picks the Patriots have in the upcoming draft (and the year after).
Am I for it?
Kind of, but not really. Obviously Boldin is sick, and it would make the Patriots passing attack once again ridiculous, but I am all for changing this team's identity back to the hard nose defense first kind of team. I would rather the Patriots spend the money to fix the defense (especially on players that can get the to QB), also I think it is way more important to have a strong running game to go along with Brady/Moss.
Anyways, it is just a rumor started most likely by writers. I can see the logic, but I just think there will be some team out there that would be willing to trade a first round pick for this guy.
In other news: Tom Brady will not need offseason surgery.
Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Anquan Boldin says he feels much better and is optimistic about his chances of playing in Saturday's divisional playoff game at New Orleans. ESPN
This game is going to be wild. With Boldin back I expect nothing but 40 yard completions all game. The secondaries for New Orleans and Arizona should just pack it up and go home. I am guaranteeing that both Warner and Drew brees have over 400 yards through the air. And on that note, Kurt Warner should be a hall of famer even though I hate to admit it.
"After the Cardinals showed some optimism with Anquan Boldin's ankle injury on Monday, the news wasn't as good on Tuesday. ESPN reports that the Cardinals are no longer optimistic that Boldin can play in the team's Wild Card Game vs. the Packers following MRI results Monday evening. Those results aren't known, but Boldin was spotted walking with a crutch on Monday (CBSSports)."
This would be a big loss for the Cardinals. It will be interesting to see what teams shows up for them in the playoffs. At times this season they look like the best team in the NFL, but then at other times they look like they shouldn't even be in the playoff picture. If I was a Cardinals' fan I wouldn't be overly worried, because this is exactly how they played last year, but I would be worried about this injury...
Pro Bowl receiver Anquan Boldin has informed agent Drew Rosenhaus, the Arizona Cardinals and the NFL Players Association of his plans to fire Rosenhaus amid stalled attempts to force a trade or a new contract.
Rosenhaus, who represents more NFL players than any other agent, had tried pressuring the Cardinals into trading the 28-year-old receiver.
Good, it is about time someone fired the super agent. Drew Rosenhaus has been trying to get Anquan Boldin an extension or to be traded, but has failed to get the Cards to budge. My prediction is that Boldin will still be a Cardinal in the start of the season. He is under contract and he doesn't want to be lopped into the Ochocinco and Terrell Owens status.
Bill Williamson of ESPN recently wrote an article that made a lot of sense to me. Basically says that he thinks the Cheifs should go after Boldin and Edge. Upon further thought I agree with this.
Think about it...Pioli just took over. He is looking to make a system that is much like the Patriots. Larry Johnson is declining, and almost everyone in the NFL uses a 2 RB system. You add guys like Boldin and Edge to a team that already has good leadership built in with Vrabel, Zach Thomas, and Cassel (much like how the Patriots added Dillon, Moss, ect with Brady, Bruschi, Troy Brown, ect). It is really an interesting thought, and if somehow they did do this they would suddenly be right in the middle of the playoff hunt instead of having to rebuild for another 2-3 years. Just a thought, but certainly an interesting one.
"At some point next week, before the draft on Saturday, there is a good chance the Arizona Cardinals will trade receiver Anquan Boldin. There are a variety of reasons why. They think they have enough talent behind Larry Fitzgerald to get by in their passing game. They don't want to give him a Fitzgarald-like contract. They also are tiring of his act. And there is some thinking among Cardinals insiders that he is jealous of Fitzgerald's success (Sportsline)."
Obviously Boldin is jealous of Fitzgerald's contract, and to some extent i get what he is saying. He has had a lot of very productive years for Arizona, and Fitzgerald had been a little bit inconsistent. There is no way i am going to argue that Fitzgerald is better after what he has been doing, but I will say I get what Boldin is arguing. Still, at the end of the day it is not like this guy is playing for peanuts, and he signed that contract and should be happy with it. Arizona is going to have a hard time getting a lot for him, because people know they are really looking to deal him, but then again as we have seen before sometimes teams jump the gun and give up way too much (cough, Bears, cough). So, this will be something to keep an eye on leading up to the draft. You would think that the Eagles/Giants would really be in the race for Boldin's services.
Boldin told ESPN's Rachel Nichols on Thursday the chances of him staying with Arizona are "very slim." Boldin had 89 catches for 1,038 yards and 11 touchdowns last season and is a huge part of this high flying offense. I have faith in Steve Breaston, but at the end of the day he isn't Boldin. The Cardinals already have to worry about whether Kurt Warner will be returning to the team, and if Boldin leaves it will make it a lot less appetizing for Warner to come back. As for possible destinations, I would love it if Boldin found his way to Philly or Atlanta. I have nothing to base that on, but it would be cool.
Today's edition of superbowl breakdowns focuses on the wide receivers. Pittsburgh won the match-up of the first two match-ups so lets see how this ends up.
Arizona Cardinals: They obviously have better wide receivers in this match-up. Larry Fitzgerald may be the best WR in the NFL and has had a nothing short of spectacular playoffs so far, Anquan Boldin is another premier WR in the league, and although he has been an ass this year on th sidelines he is an amazing pass catcher, and Steve Breaston may be the best slot WR in the league. All of the fore mentioned guys are extremely explosive, are deep threats, and physical guys, many people compare this WR corp to the Rams that Kurt Warner led to the Superbowl against the Patriots, but there is one glaring difference. These guys can't be pushed around and can't be intimidated, like Holt and Bruce could. The only thing that can slow these guys down is if Pitt says fuck the run game, we are going to be in dime the whole game. Either way, this is an extremely tough match-up for Ike Taylor, Troy Polomalu, and Ryan Clark. I expect nothing less than 2 TDs in the air.
Pittsburgh: Hines Ward is banged up but is going to play, Santonio Holmes has been a home run threat in the playoffs, Nate Washington is the burner, and Heath Miller is the check down guy. Although they aren't as explosive as Fitzgerald or Boldin, the Steelers WR's do their job. They are extremely physical, hardly drop passes and given the opportunity they can break one deep. No one ever knows what to think of the Steelers passing game, and even me being a Steelers fan have no idea who could lead the team in receiving yards any given week. The Steelers will probably spread the ball around, with a couple of deep bombs to Washington or Holmes, but who knows.
There was a lot of upsets in college football this week, and it was no different in the NFL. Denver losing to Kansas City is the game that really stands out to me (it mostly stands out because I lost 250 on that game). Another upset was the Redskins over the Cowboys, even though this was an upset more people should have seen this coming, as these games between these two teams are usually close. The last game that stands out to me is the Jets game, not that it was an upset, but it was just a ridiculous game, that had a horrible ending for the Cardinals.
Kansas City 33, Denver 19 Denver's QB Cutler seemed to be forcing the ball to Marshall too much, and Denver's defense just looks terrible. Larry Johnson ran right down their throats, and the Broncos defense had no answer. The Broncos have a lot of speed on defense, but they don't have any power, and seemed to get pushed off the line. Any team that has a good running back is going to be able to do what Larry Johnson did, and think about it Larry Johnson doesn't even have a good offensive line.
Washington 26, Dallas 24 The Cowboys had no running game, and the Redskins controlled the entire game. Time of possession had a lot to do with the Redskins win, as they had the ball for over 38 mins, compared to Dallas, who only had the ball for 21 mins. Romo threw a pick, but he played a good game. Owens was thrown to 7 times for 71 yards and a TD, but he was still bitching that they weren't throwing him the ball enough. You know what that means....here comes the yearly Owens explosion.
New York Jets 56, Arizona 35 This was like watching me play Madden. Favre was awesome, but people are going to overlook the real story in this game was Kurt Warner's 6 turnovers. That is just unacceptable, and they really could have won this game if he could just hold onto the ball. The Jets still have many questions on defense, and I don't think they are going to be able to force the turnovers that they got in this game. Still 6 TDs is just silly.
Here is the knockout blow to Anquan Boldin...damn he got lit up:
