Boldin Has New Agent, Wants New Deal

[TopGun]

POSTED 7:40 p.m. EDT; LAST UPDATED 8:17 p.m. EDT, August 30, 2004



BOLDIN HAS NEW AGENT, WANTS NEW DEAL



A league source tells us that Cardinals receiver Anquan Boldin, the 2003 offensive rookie of the year, has hired agent Drew Rosenhaus with an eye toward getting a new deal.



In only his second NFL season and with a knee injury that will cause him to miss several games of the regular season, Boldin doesn't have much leverage, on paper. But with a healthy dose of cap room and a desire to turn the trio of Boldin, Bryant Johnson, and Larry Fitzgerald into the second coming of his 1998 Vikings, which had perhaps the best receiving corps in league history, coach Dennis Green might be inclined to lobby for Boldin to be paid more like Fitzgerald, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2004 draft who got $15 million to sign -- and who'll earn millions more in incentives based merely upon minimum playing time over the next few years.



Boldin previously was represented by IMG. He was one of the players who wanted to defect from the megafirm with Darell Will, who was summarily decertified by the NFLPA shortly after he left IMG. Other Will clients include Patriots tight end Ben Watson, who eventually dumped IMG before signing a long-term deal with the Pats.

 

[pinnacle]

FYI...it was mentioned that Graves had a meeting with Boldin's agent the weekend of the Vikings game...I think graves met with the agent in either Chicago or minneapolis (I cannot remember - I think Chicago) - it was supposed to be the 1st meeting to start laying the groundwork for a new deal....

It now sounds like the agent graves met with was dumped......I think Rosenhous represented one of our rookies this year (or his partner did) - I do not remember which one (rookie)..

 

[KingofCards]

I saw some guy reporting this on the NFL Network earlier today.

They'll get it worked out.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

 

[Russ Smith]

This should surprise nobody, we knew this was going to happen, it's why I've been advocating for months we should be proactively negotiating with him. The injury complicates things but Rosenhaus is a bear to deal with, this deal would have been MUCH easier to do without him. We'll be fair to Quan I expect, but the hiring of Drew Rosenhaus is going to cause us some headaches.

 

[Sandan]

Russ, I wouldn't be too concerned, it seems that the Cardinals plan to redo his deal anyway.

It was only in the last couple of weeks that they were allowed to discuss it and it's not like he is goinmg to be a FA next year. I'm guessing they will get it done over the next few weeks maybe a month or two.

 

[BACH]

If there's still cap room after week one Boldin might get a new deal around Nov 1 like Shelton did last year. If they are bringing in new players, Boldin won't get a deal until next year.

 

[kerouac9]

Give a new deal, with a seven-digit (or eight!) signing bonus to a player that just suffered a serious knee injury? Are you guys high?

Come back and have another good season, Anquan, and we'll talk. Giving injured players big new deals will only shackle this team under the salary cap before they've even done anything. I wouldn't give him a new deal until after the season. Most of that cap money should be for Josh McCown (if he's the real deal) and Adrian Wilson.

 

[Russ Smith]

Russ, I wouldn't be too concerned, it seems that the Cardinals plan to redo his deal anyway.

It was only in the last couple of weeks that they were allowed to discuss it and it's not like he is goinmg to be a FA next year. I'm guessing they will get it done over the next few weeks maybe a month or two.

Understood, my point was his changing agents is not necessarily good for us, Rosenhaus has a reputation of being VERY difficult.

I'm not concerned, we'll get it done, but it would have been a lot easier to deal with IMG IMHO. I know we can't redo his contract until I think tomorrow, but I wasn't aware we couldn't have talks on it before then, are you sure? The reason I ask is that Denver quite publicly offered to redo Portis' deal in camp last year, but asked him to wait one more year. They put a firm offer on the table, he rejected it, so I find it odd that we're saying we couldn't negotiate with Quan when Denver quite clearly was doing so with Portis well before now in HIS 2nd year.

If they were breaking a rule it's surprising that they weren't in trouble since they were so public with it.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

I would be more concerned if his new agent was one of the Poston brothers.

 

[Russ Smith]

Give a new deal, with a seven-digit (or eight!) signing bonus to a player that just suffered a serious knee injury? Are you guys high?

Come back and have another good season, Anquan, and we'll talk. Giving injured players big new deals will only shackle this team under the salary cap before they've even done anything. I wouldn't give him a new deal until after the season. Most of that cap money should be for Josh McCown (if he's the real deal) and Adrian Wilson.

IN all likelihood any deal for Quan would be contingent on his knee passing inspection, nobody is advocating signing him to a huge deal today.

As for wait until the end of the season, guys who hire Drew Rosenhaus typically are doing so to get something done, for all his issues, Rosenhaus has proven to be very effective at getting money for his clients. You don't hire a Drew Rosenhaus with the expectation you'll wait until next year to get a contract done. I have no doubt Quan has had negotiations with us already, has been told he'll be taken care of, and is switching agents now because of the IMG mess, and with the expectation that Drew will help him get his new deal this year.

Quan is a terrific kid but to expect him to be patient while we take care of everyone else first, with Drew Rosenhaus as his agent, is setting ourselves up for disappointment, I don't think Graves and DG are going to make that mistake. Quan probably won't pull a Portis and force a trade, that's why it's in our best interests to deal with him while he's still excited about this franchise.

 

[john h]

Give a new deal, with a seven-digit (or eight!) signing bonus to a player that just suffered a serious knee injury? Are you guys high?

Come back and have another good season, Anquan, and we'll talk. Giving injured players big new deals will only shackle this team under the salary cap before they've even done anything. I wouldn't give him a new deal until after the season. Most of that cap money should be for Josh McCown (if he's the real deal) and Adrian Wilson.

I am one for signing people and keeping them if they appear to be good players. With a serious knee problem and only one year behind him this all seems premature. As for Mccown being the real deal that is yet ot be proven. On Sports Center today they were arguing who was the worst team in the NFL for this year. It came down to Airizona and San Frnacisco. Sure does not sound like they have been listening to Denny for the real truth that we are a 10/6 team.

 

[kerouac9]

IN all likelihood any deal for Quan would be contingent on his knee passing inspection, nobody is advocating signing him to a huge deal today.

I'm guessing they will get it done over the next few weeks maybe a month or two.

Let Anquan show that he's not a one-year wonder, then give him the new deal. Chad Johnson had to wait. Hines Ward is still waiting. Clinton Portis had to wait.

 

[CaptTurbo]

On Sports Center today they were arguing who was the worst team in the NFL for this year. It came down to Airizona and San Frnacisco. .

How did San Diego improve?

 

[RugbyMuffin]

Just give Boldin what he wants.

guys like him don't come by every day.

Peace

 

[Russ Smith]

Let Anquan show that he's not a one-year wonder, then give him the new deal. Chad Johnson had to wait. Hines Ward is still waiting. Clinton Portis had to wait.

Chad did nothing like Quan as a rookie, and Portis was so mad he forced a trade.

the idea is to reach a happy medium, we lock up a good player, and he's happy about it.

Again, one of my biggest complaints about drafting Fitz at 2 was the impact it would have on Quan. I'd bet that Rosenhaus is drooling at the prospect of comparing the 2 contracts and using it as a measuring stick to redo Quan.

But in Green's system you have to have 3 good WRs, so he took Fitz.