Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando
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| | Gene Lower/Getty Images |
| | Anquan Boldin has reportedly told his agent to stop negotiating a new contract with the Cardinals. |
Anquan Boldin's comments Thursday -- that he plans to play out his contract with the Cardinals and then sign elsewhere -- shouldn't come as a shock to the Cardinals.
As general manager Rod Graves said earlier this offseason: "I fully expect that at some point we're going to have to make difficult choices by letting good football players walk because we can't afford to keep everybody."
Boldin has three years remaining on his deal. Lots can change between now and March 2011. But as Darren Urban of azcardinals.com notes via the first link in this entry, the situation appears bleak for now:
"Boldin said he has told his agent to no longer negotiate a new contract and that he would not sign a new deal with the Cardinals. He wouldn't say he would ask for a trade, and he understands he still has three years left on his contract, but he gave the clear message that he feels the clock is ticking on his Cardinals' career."
Graves had to know this was a possibility. A team can commit only so much to one position. The Cardinals were all but forced to pay Larry Fitzgerald after his rookie contract exploded in value through incentives. The four-year deal Fitzgerald signed this offseason provided needed salary-cap relief while, in theory, giving the team three years to reach a resolution on Boldin.
Boldin might be principled enough to follow through on his promise. Then again, money tends to talk in these situations. Boldin is scheduled to earn $8.25 million over the next three seasons. He could earn much more on a long-term deal. Boldin turns 28 in October. He'll be several months past his 30th birthday when his current deal expires.
The best solution for Boldin would be to sign a shorter deal that puts him in better position to cash one more big contract. Short of that, he can collect the $8.25 million and take his chances at age 30, assuming the Cardinals don't restrict his movement with a franchise-player designation (if such a mechanism exists in the next collective bargaining agreement).
