Somers: The Boldin-Cardinals soap opera
by Kent Somers - Feb. 24, 2009 07:47 PM
The Arizona Republic .
This is The Republic's Heat Index column for Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2009.
Receiver Anquan Boldin's contract dispute with the Cardinals continues to play out like a soap opera, although it does lack the illicit love interest.
Like a daytime drama, the plot advances so slowly that even minor developments seem like major story twists.
Anquan says he'll return for the right price!
Agent issues a deadline for the Cardinals to make an offer!
No, he doesn't!
In reality, nothing much has changed in the past year. Boldin wants a new contract. The Cardinals say they want to re-sign him. And the distance between the two remains as wide as a glacier, and just as cold.
The situation has grown tiresome for everyone involved, especially for fans, many of whom have a vision of where this is headed - with Boldin being traded.
Perhaps a split became inevitable when the Cardinals drafted Larry Fitzgerald with the third overall pick in 2004. There were questions then if there would be enough passes, and money, to keep both of them happy in the long term.
Now the Cardinals are at that point. Fitzgerald signed a four-year, $40 million deal with the team last spring.
Boldin would be only human if he found that at least a little galling.
Fitzgerald was only 20 when he was drafted, and he had some growing up to do. As a young player, he tended to do just enough to get by in practice.
Fitzgerald, to his credit, has matured. No one worked harder in practice last season, and there is no better receiver in the game.
Boldin, in contrast, arrived in Arizona wise beyond his years. He was the guy held up by the organization as the example of everything it wanted in a player, everything that was right with the game.
But the dynamics of the situation shifted drastically in 2008. Fitzgerald was phenomenal in the playoff run, while Boldin missed a game because of injury and was involved in a sideline tiff with offensive coordinator Todd Haley in the NFC Championship Game.
With the off-season came agent Drew Rosenhaus' offer to the Cardinals: that Boldin was willing to re-sign as long as the offer came sooner, rather than later. The Cardinals reacted by saying little, other than they would address Boldin's situation when the window of opportunity opened.
Rosenhaus won't wait silently for the Cardinals to crack the window. He'll throw a rock or two to force the issue, and the situation should come to a head by April as the draft approaches.
The Cardinals could just pat Rosenhaus on the head and send him on his way. Boldin has two years remaining on a contract that was extended in 2005, so the Cardinals have all the leverage, provided they are ready for the verbal sparring and the holdout that are sure to come.
Or maybe they decide to trade Boldin, perhaps the most popular player in the club's 21 years in Arizona. That would be a tricky proposition for the Cardinals.
Boldin certainly is a better player than receiver Roy Williams, whom the Cowboys traded first-, third- and sixth-round picks for last season. But the Cowboys gave up too much in that trade, and it's hard see another team making a similar deal for Boldin.
A team trading for Boldin also would want assurances that it can reach an agreement with him on a long-term contract. Boldin's a fabulous player and regarded as among the toughest in the league. But he also will be 29 in October, and injuries forced him out of nine games in the past two years
Still, his influence in the locker room and on the practice field is hard to overestimate. If this soap opera ends with Boldin leaving the show, no one is going to feel good about it.
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