azdad1978
Championship!!!!
By Darren Urban, Tribune
The more Dennis Green talked about missing wide receiver Anquan Boldin, the more angry he got. The Cardinals coach opened a three-day mandatory minicamp Friday with his team, but the news was about one of the couple of guys who wasn’t there. Boldin, as expected, didn’t show up because he wants a new contract.
So Green was peppered with questions about Boldin’s absence, a subject frustrating Green enough that at one point, he tried to cut short his press conference.
“You know what, how much (difference) did one player make (the past couple years)?” Green said. “Everybody wants their best players, absolutely. But you have to go play. I don’t think we have one guy on the team that’s thinking, ‘Oh my, we’re not going to be any good because we don’t have one player.’ That’s not football, man.”
Tackle L.J. Shelton was the only other missing player, but Shelton — whom the Cards are trying to trade and who the team doesn’t want to get injured in offseason work — had permission from Green to stay home. Shelton did show up to take his physical Thursday.
Boldin hadn’t shown up to any other offseason work, and agent Drew Rosenhaus has directed other clients to skip such work to force a team to deal. Fellow Rosenhaus client Terrell Owens of Philadelphia is also skipping minicamp this weekend.
Boldin’s original deal had a signing bonus of $1.2 million, and pays him salaries of $380,000 and $460,000 the next two seasons.
The situation wasn’t helped when the Cards gave fellow receiver Larry Fitzgerald a contract that will pay him around $16 million by the time training camp starts in August.
Another Rosenhaus client, Cleveland running back Reuben Droughns, said earlier this week he will hold out if he doesn’t get a new contract. Like Boldin, Droughns has two years left on his contract.
Previously, Rosenhaus had said he would not be commenting on the situation. Vice president of football operations Rod Graves said the same thing.
“I’m just going to talk about the guys that are here,” Graves said.
That left Green to talk about the situation, and it was clearly not his favorite topic.
“I just know that I have one focus: The last two years the Arizona Cardinals have been 10-22 (in wins and losses),” Green said. “It’s my goal the next two years to make the Arizona Cardinals 22-10.
“I just know what winning teams do and how they think. Everybody is going to have holdouts, that’s part of the game. Everyone is going to have disputes.
That’s part of the game too. When it’s all said and done... the ones that are going to win this year are the ones who are going to have everyone there working.”
The Cardinals are expected to fine Boldin, but the maximum fine under the collective bargaining agreement is only $1,000 a day.
That’s why irritating a coach like Green would seem like the biggest punishment for not showing, although asked if he gave a clean slate to holdouts like Boldin, Green said “I have a clean slate every day.”
Boldin’s teammates have been supportive of his effort to improve his contract.
“You hate to have guys not at minicamp because you want to build that continuity, but you understand,” quarterback Kurt Warner said. “You hope and pray it gets done sooner rather than later so that when it really comes time to buckle down and get ready for the season you have all the pieces together.”
Green emphasized he wasn’t going to linger on the Boldin issue and he didn’t expect his players to either.
“Winners don’t whine about anything,” Green said. “About anything or anyone. Winners lace it up and start playing. That’s the way I am going to be.
“Like I said before, I am a lot less patient this year than I was last year, I’ve got a lot more on my mind about what I am going to do with this football team. I don’t really care who buys into it or not. I think enough players will buy into it. I think we had enough changes and I think we are going to win.”
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=40480
The more Dennis Green talked about missing wide receiver Anquan Boldin, the more angry he got. The Cardinals coach opened a three-day mandatory minicamp Friday with his team, but the news was about one of the couple of guys who wasn’t there. Boldin, as expected, didn’t show up because he wants a new contract.
So Green was peppered with questions about Boldin’s absence, a subject frustrating Green enough that at one point, he tried to cut short his press conference.
“You know what, how much (difference) did one player make (the past couple years)?” Green said. “Everybody wants their best players, absolutely. But you have to go play. I don’t think we have one guy on the team that’s thinking, ‘Oh my, we’re not going to be any good because we don’t have one player.’ That’s not football, man.”
Tackle L.J. Shelton was the only other missing player, but Shelton — whom the Cards are trying to trade and who the team doesn’t want to get injured in offseason work — had permission from Green to stay home. Shelton did show up to take his physical Thursday.
Boldin hadn’t shown up to any other offseason work, and agent Drew Rosenhaus has directed other clients to skip such work to force a team to deal. Fellow Rosenhaus client Terrell Owens of Philadelphia is also skipping minicamp this weekend.
Boldin’s original deal had a signing bonus of $1.2 million, and pays him salaries of $380,000 and $460,000 the next two seasons.
The situation wasn’t helped when the Cards gave fellow receiver Larry Fitzgerald a contract that will pay him around $16 million by the time training camp starts in August.
Another Rosenhaus client, Cleveland running back Reuben Droughns, said earlier this week he will hold out if he doesn’t get a new contract. Like Boldin, Droughns has two years left on his contract.
Previously, Rosenhaus had said he would not be commenting on the situation. Vice president of football operations Rod Graves said the same thing.
“I’m just going to talk about the guys that are here,” Graves said.
That left Green to talk about the situation, and it was clearly not his favorite topic.
“I just know that I have one focus: The last two years the Arizona Cardinals have been 10-22 (in wins and losses),” Green said. “It’s my goal the next two years to make the Arizona Cardinals 22-10.
“I just know what winning teams do and how they think. Everybody is going to have holdouts, that’s part of the game. Everyone is going to have disputes.
That’s part of the game too. When it’s all said and done... the ones that are going to win this year are the ones who are going to have everyone there working.”
The Cardinals are expected to fine Boldin, but the maximum fine under the collective bargaining agreement is only $1,000 a day.
That’s why irritating a coach like Green would seem like the biggest punishment for not showing, although asked if he gave a clean slate to holdouts like Boldin, Green said “I have a clean slate every day.”
Boldin’s teammates have been supportive of his effort to improve his contract.
“You hate to have guys not at minicamp because you want to build that continuity, but you understand,” quarterback Kurt Warner said. “You hope and pray it gets done sooner rather than later so that when it really comes time to buckle down and get ready for the season you have all the pieces together.”
Green emphasized he wasn’t going to linger on the Boldin issue and he didn’t expect his players to either.
“Winners don’t whine about anything,” Green said. “About anything or anyone. Winners lace it up and start playing. That’s the way I am going to be.
“Like I said before, I am a lot less patient this year than I was last year, I’ve got a lot more on my mind about what I am going to do with this football team. I don’t really care who buys into it or not. I think enough players will buy into it. I think we had enough changes and I think we are going to win.”
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=40480
