Q requests trade again?

[CardinalChris]

I agree with you the most on here and this is something i've been saying for a long time now.

I don't think most people have a problem reworking the deal just because of Cardsfanmd's point. But it is HOW he is going about it that has fans turning on him.

 

[bg7brd]

I think the issue with most people is the report that Graves approached him to extend him last year and he turned them down, supposedly to earmark his salary off of Larry's. It just reeks of greed when AZ did the right thing after his second year and gave him a new deal when they didn't need to. If Quan played his contract out and had faith that AZ would take care of him, as he claimed all offseason, we would love him and he would get his deal. BUT.... he has quickly turned into a guy who is exactly the type of player he always appeared to be the antithesis of.

Which is why we should be patient and hear the whole story before we burn him at the stake.

 

[Evil Ash]

Some of you who are trashing Q now are the same ones who were swinging from his manhood like Tarzan not too long ago. The man is treating his business like a business, I dont blame him a bit. Teams dont have to honor their contracts so why should the players?

I know for a fact that if my employer were paying someone of equal value to me 4 Xs what I was making I would give them 1 chance to match it THAT DAY or I would be going to another company that would pay me my new market value.

These guys are not captive gladiators out there for spectator entertainment, they are men with lives and families that they have to think of.

I love him as a player and I don't mind that he's trying to do business for himself. However the manner in which he is doing it is what is pissing people off. This strategy, if it is a strategy, might be one of the dumbest things I've ever seen.

He was hopeful that the "Same Ole Cards" crowd would back him up and with the way this team has done things in the past I can't say I blame him. However that is not the case at all. He's made more enemies then friends with his tactics

1) By insulting management and coaching and showing that he really wants out of here, he has lowered his trade value so much that there is no way they are going to trade him before the season. If he would have kept his trap shut, there may have been a chance but there isn't a chance now.

2) His antics may make teams question how much they really want him. He signed an extension not that long ago and he has 3 years still left on it. Now teams have to wonder if he'll do this to them in a couple of years even though he'll sign an extension with them shortly there after.

3) When you make millions of dollars its not the smartest idea to bitch about how you're not getting paid enough when the economy is in the toilet. There are a lot of people that don't have jobs PERIOD. All this does in quite a few people's minds this has made him nothing more than a whiny primadona (sp?).

If he would have kept the matter private, he probably would have gotten what he wanted either way (extension or trade). However due to make it public he has hurt his reputation with the fans and the team as well as making his trade value go almost to zero to make certain he stays put. He actually made the Cardinals look like the good guys in this situation and with the team's reputation that's pretty damn tough to do

Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.

 

[CardinalChris]

Which is why we should be patient and hear the whole story before we burn him at the stake.

Of course, but this is a progression, not out of the blue comment. It has gotten nothing but worse in the past 2 months which lends to these comments being true and Q's behavior more and more selfish. Again, most agree he is underpaid. But this isn't how you get it done.

I can be a cynical guy, but my guess is that Q misjudged public support and thought he could use the Card's history of poor front office performance to squeeze them a little and it flopped.

 

[CardinalChris]

I love him as a player and I don't mind that he's trying to do business for himself. However the manner in which he is doing it is what is pissing people off. This strategy, if it is a strategy, might be one of the dumbest things I've ever seen.

He was hopeful that the "Same Ole Cards" crowd would back him up and with the way this team has done things in the past I can't say I blame him. However that is not the case at all. He's made more enemies then friends with his tactics

1) By insulting management and coaching and showing that he really wants out of here, he has lowered his trade value so much that there is no way they are going to trade him before the season. If he would have kept his trap shut, there may have been a chance but there isn't a chance now.

2) His antics may make teams question how much they really want him. He signed an extension not that long ago and he has 3 years still left on it. Now teams have to wonder if he'll do this to them in a couple of years even though he'll sign an extension with them shortly there after.

3) When you make millions of dollars its not the smartest idea to bitch about how you're not getting paid enough when the economy is in the toilet. There are a lot of people that don't have jobs PERIOD. All this does in quite a few people's minds this has made him nothing more than a whiny primadona (sp?).

If he would have kept the matter private, he probably would have gotten what he wanted either way (extension or trade). However due to make it public he has hurt his reputation with the fans and the team as well as making his trade value go almost to zero to make certain he stays put. He actually made the Cardinals look like the good guys in this situation and with the team's reputation that's pretty damn tough to do

Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.

I think the one thing is that the team that takes him would want him for a #1 WR. He may be the heart of the team, but Fitz is the go-to guy on this team. He goes to Baltimore (just an example) and I bet dollars to doughnuts management thinks once he is the #1 guy and they resign him, the attitude will leave.

 

[Carddan]

I'm looking for the alledged quote that the dropped pass in KC was a reminder to management. If Boldin said that, then his defenders need to go away. There is no excuse for intentional failure in this or any business. Has anyone else heard that quote or have a link for it? If true, I don't want to see him in a Cardinals uniform again. If untrue, I'm in the play the year out crowd.

 

[Evil Ash]

I think the one thing is that the team that takes him would want him for a #1 WR. He may be the heart of the team, but Fitz is the go-to guy on this team. He goes to Baltimore (just an example) and I bet dollars to doughnuts management thinks once he is the #1 guy and they resign him, the attitude will leave.

That's a possibility but like I said by making things like this public, he has CAUSED doubt. If he kept it within the organization and away from the media, those doubts wouldn't occur IMO.

 

[ajcardfan]

The man is treating his business like a business, I dont blame him a bit.

While there is a lot of validity in what you are saying (I used some of the same reasoning to defend Fitz), I don't agree with this. Boldin let it get personal, and calling out his coach is not "business". It's a vendetta, and it's hurting his business. This decision to speak out like this has hurt his leverage for either a new contract or a trade. It almost certainly cost him money and was just a stupid thing to do.

It actually reminds me of what Charles Barkley did to get out of Phoenix. Even the egomaniac Barkley is, he finally admitted what he did was wrong.

 

[TJ]

Yeah a few months ago Q was the gold standard and Fitz was the greedy me first player.

I hope you are being sarcastic. Fitz wasnt being greedy. He earned his money. The FO put escalaters in his contract and he hit just about every single one.

If you want to get mad, blame the system that rewards more first rounders that underachieve than it does 2nd rounders and beyond who over achieve. Boldin fell into the latter. If he were a first round pick, he'd be the one with $30 mil guaranteed right now

 

[ajcardfan]

That's a possibility but like I said by making things like this public, he has CAUSED doubt. If he kept it within the organization and away from the media, those doubts wouldn't occur IMO.

This interview was a bad mistake by Q. Not only did it hurt him with his current employer, any prospective team is going to be just a bit less loving with a new deal. Maybe knocking off a couple of years, or incentives, that they would've been willing to give otherwise. "just in case" to protect themselves.

 

[azsouthendzone]

I don't care if either party honors the contract. What I care about is that Q trashes his team and his coach. You don't see teams trash their players (unprovoked) like this in the media when they void a contract. That is the difference.

Teams void contracts based on performance. Players would like to void contracts based on ego and perceived "disrespect".

It's the principle of the thing that irks me. Q lost his manhood tonight.

+1

 

[thirty-two]

Wow, this freaking sucks.

 

[Evil Ash]

Somers, on a comment from his AZ Central blog (not the blog entry itself), sheds a little light on what the problem is that may be causing all of the anomosity

http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/KentSomers/30544

It's tough to determine the truth in all this. I'm not sure who said what behind closed doors. I suspect the truth lies somewhere in the middle here, as it does with most things. The Cardinals did extend Boldin's rookie deal after only two years, paying Boldin $10 million in bonuses. And the team has talked for a year or two about extending Boldin's current deal but no progress has been made.

I'm not sure what Boldin was promised. Maybe he was promised a new deal, but as a friend said to me, that doesn't mean the team just gives him any deal he wants. If the team is going extend a contract that has three years remaining, it's going to want a discount.

 

[Diamondback Jay]

Looks like the "Q Is God" Bandwagon has crashed and burned.

As for the speculated "possible deals":

The chances Dallas trades Felix and Jenkins for Boldin are the same that the Vikings trade Peterson... None.

Ginn? That'd be a horrendous fleecing for Miami.

In terms of teams that need a #1 guy, I can think of a few right off the top of my head.

Philadelphia (the Eagles could offer up a package with Lito Sheppard and one of the OLinemen)

Baltimore (I know many here will dangle from the balls of the potential option of getting Suggs. Do the Ravens part with Suggs for Boldin? Boldin would at worst make Joe Flacco's learning curve a little less rocky.)

Tennessee (Do the Tits have a compensation package that make a deal for Boldin worthwhile?)

Miami (I don't envision the Dolphins as being willing to give up a first to get Boldin. What else do they have that could work capwise?)

San Diego (See Tennessee)

Perhaps Kansas City?

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

in a rare case, no one is blaming the Cards FO at all. That's surprising.Graves,me included, usually gets all the heat from fans. What we don't know is the entire story and what the Cards have told Q. Maybe he does have a legit beef. I don't agree with going public but maybe he feels it his last resort. You would think he'd realize that the public perception seems to be all in the Cards favor,a true rarity, and just go out and play and make it a big deal in the off season. No way the Cards budge when everything is their favor.

 

[Dash]

Trade the guy already.

Teams like the Cardinals are not strong enough to endure this kind of crap, just make the best most creative deal you can, leverage him while he's worth something and trade him.

I'm sick and tired of trying to milk a contract is a contract out of players, in today's NFL that does not work, they have to have their mind right to play, players of his caliber can dog it in an amazing amount of destructive ways that aren't really that perceptible and he will, conciously or not.

We were never going to be able to hold two WR's the caliber of Boldin and Fitz on one team without short changing the rest of the team, the fact is they are too similar to get the maximum benefit you'd have to have to pay both what they're going to want. They chose Fitz, it's done, trade the other guy when he has maximum value.

Trade him and end this stupidity.

I have to agree with this statement. It is time for Boldin to be traded and turn this situation into a win-win for both parties. Look at how much discussion and disatisfaction onging with the fans. I bet the team is similiar, probably not as outspoken. By strong arming Boldin to play under his current contract, we will see more issues pop up in the future. Nothing wrong by management coming out and stating the Cardinals are looking to trade Boldin and see what offers there are. I would only trade Boldin if the players will indeed help our team and not to just trade him as we do have his rights over the next few years and thus the leverage. By stating now, I think the team puts itself in a favorable public opinion position - does not mean we have to trade only if there was a trade option that was a better deal than keeping Bolding.

 

[Mitch]

Q is upset with Whiz for "getting involved" in the negotiations or contract discussions. Does anyone know what the story is here? Why and how was Whiz involved? And what did Whiz do to make Q so upset?

Anyone have a sense?

 

[Stout]

I know for a fact that if my employer were paying someone of equal value to me 4 Xs what I was making I would give them 1 chance to match it THAT DAY or I would be going to another company that would pay me my new market value.

And I think you just hit the heart of the problem here. While Q may believe he's an equal talent, he is NOT Fitz's equal talent-wise. His game is different and, IF all other factors were equal, his talent would be close enough to Fitz's as to be almost the same. Unfortunately, Q shows far more wear and tear, and he's older. You just get the sense that Q's injuries are catching up with him. It's a shame, but it's the truth. He is nowhere near as valuable as Fitz and should not get close to his contract.

 

[daytripper]

It would be interesting to know how much Q has earned under his reworked contract so far. I believe he recieved or is recieving 10m in bonuses.
When it all shakes out this is Qs contract year. He will have to perform well this season to get the open market money he wants. SO there arent many options for the young man except to gut it out and play. Which I believe he will. And come draft time he'll move on for a low first or high second round pick.

 

[clif]

Again what gets me is how out of touch these guys really become. As Evil Ash stated, the economy is in the toilet, people are losing their homes and life savings... Meanwhile some rock headed football player is complaining about making $2.5 million this year. It just absolutely makes me sick to hear this guy make a complete ass of himself.

 

[clif]

Times like these make me long for words of wisdom from athletes of yesteryear.

Patrick Ewing during an NBA Lockout, commenting on the need to set up a charity" game for out of work basketball players:

"Sure, we make a lot of money, but we spend a lot, too."

Ahh... words to live by!

 

[cardsfanmd]

Again what gets me is how out of touch these guys really become. As Evil Ash stated, the economy is in the toilet, people are losing their homes and life savings... Meanwhile some rock headed football player is complaining about making $2.5 million this year. It just absolutely makes me sick to hear this guy make a complete ass of himself.

I wont get into the ecomony, as I have been warning against speaking on it in this forumn. But if it is as bad as you say out here in the real world that is ALLL THE MORE reason for Q to get his money now. He isn't going to be in the NFL forever.

 

[cardsfanmd]

I don't care if either party honors the contract. What I care about is that Q trashes his team and his coach. You don't see teams trash their players (unprovoked) like this in the media when they void a contract. That is the difference.

Teams void contracts based on performance. Players would like to void contracts based on ego and perceived "disrespect".

It's the principle of the thing that irks me. Q lost his manhood tonight.

Boldin let it get personal, and calling out his coach is not "business". It's a vendetta, and it's hurting his business. This decision to speak out like this has hurt his leverage for either a new contract or a trade. It almost certainly cost him money and was just a stupid thing to do.

How did he trash the team and his coach???

He said the team has screwed him, which I tend to agree with and said that coaches should stick to coaching, which they should. I didn't like seeing Whiz at the Suns game with Fitz in the offseason. That is not his job, and until we are SB Championships he needs to concentrate on exactly what his job description entails.

As far as hurting his future $, yeah right. Just because most here believe the team has turned the corner the rest of the world still considers Arizona the "armpit of the NFL".

I think the issue with most people is the report that Graves approached him to extend him last year and he turned them down, supposedly to earmark his salary off of Larry's. It just reeks of greed when AZ did the right thing after his second year and gave him a new deal when they didn't need to. If Quan played his contract out and had faith that AZ would take care of him, as he claimed all offseason, we would love him and he would get his deal. BUT.... he has quickly turned into a guy who is exactly the type of player he always appeared to be the antithesis of.

He offered him 2mill per, with none upfront or guarenteed. That is a joke. I dont blame Q a bit for being pissed about it.

Which is why we should be patient and hear the whole story before we burn him at the stake.

I love him as a player and I don't mind that he's trying to do business for himself. However the manner in which he is doing it is what is pissing people off. This strategy, if it is a strategy, might be one of the dumbest things I've ever seen.

He was hopeful that the "Same Ole Cards" crowd would back him up and with the way this team has done things in the past I can't say I blame him. However that is not the case at all. He's made more enemies then friends with his tactics

1) By insulting management and coaching and showing that he really wants out of here, he has lowered his trade value so much that there is no way they are going to trade him before the season. If he would have kept his trap shut, there may have been a chance but there isn't a chance now.

2) His antics may make teams question how much they really want him. He signed an extension not that long ago and he has 3 years still left on it. Now teams have to wonder if he'll do this to them in a couple of years even though he'll sign an extension with them shortly there after.

3) When you make millions of dollars its not the smartest idea to bitch about how you're not getting paid enough when the economy is in the toilet. There are a lot of people that don't have jobs PERIOD. All this does in quite a few people's minds this has made him nothing more than a whiny primadona (sp?).

If he would have kept the matter private, he probably would have gotten what he wanted either way (extension or trade). However due to make it public he has hurt his reputation with the fans and the team as well as making his trade value go almost to zero to make certain he stays put. He actually made the Cardinals look like the good guys in this situation and with the team's reputation that's pretty damn tough to do

Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.

I disagree with this entire post. Q is the real deal and how quickly you forget all the crap he has put up with here. To try to attack him now because he doesn't want to play for YOUR favorite team anymore is not cool at all IMO.

 

[Russ Smith]

Some of you who are trashing Q now are the same ones who were swinging from his manhood like Tarzan not too long ago. The man is treating his business like a business, I dont blame him a bit. Teams dont have to honor their contracts so why should the players?

I know for a fact that if my employer were paying someone of equal value to me 4 Xs what I was making I would give them 1 chance to match it THAT DAY or I would be going to another company that would pay me my new market value.

These guys are not captive gladiators out there for spectator entertainment, they are men with lives and families that they have to think of.

If that's the case when he signed his last contract he should have insisted on a clause that guaranteed he get paid on a par with Fitzgerald. He keeps saying Fitz' contract is not the issue, nobody believes him and it's clear that is the issue.

now some of us predicted this ages ago when the talks with fitz were going on and pointed out how colossally Graves and co had screwed up by letting Fitz get to that point. But now we're in a situation where we salvaged the situation with Fitz and now Boldin is trying to screw us over because he wants to get paid, it has nothing to do with wanting to win the team is in place to be pretty good this year, getting more money won't make the team any better. But demanding a trade certainly could make the team worse, this is a very selfish demand by Anquan he's ignoring the team because he wants to get paid more again.

 

[joeshmo]

How did he trash the team and his coach???

He said the team has screwed him, which I tend to agree with and said that coaches should stick to coaching, which they should. I didn't like seeing Whiz at the Suns game with Fitz in the offseason. That is not his job, and until we are SB Championships he needs to concentrate on exactly what his job description entails.

It is the HC job to work with the GM. It is the GM's job to get the opinion of the HC. It is the GM's job to work with the HC on waht he wants under the rules of the salary cap. HC job is not just to coach, it is his job to coach and work with Management to make the overall makeup of the whole team whcih includes salaries. Why do you think Wiz cut Shipp, mostly becuase of salary. Somers said it best in his blog -

"As for Whisenhunt's involvement, Boldin apparently thinks the coach should stick to coaching. Whisenhunt has become a part of the negotations, and to Boldin, that makes him management. At least judging by his comments. I wouldn't say it's unusual for coaches to play such a role. Marvin Lewis in Cincinnati has done it. Dennis Green did it with the Cardinals, to some extent. Mike Nolan with the 49ers has been involved in that, as has Seattle's Mike Holmgren. I imagine Bill Belichick keeps pretty close tabs on negotiations in New England."

Denny Green was apart of salaries when Boldin got his extension the first time. But Boldin got what he wanted so it wasnt an issue, but when it doesnt go his way it all of a sudden becomes an issue?

Not sure where you are coming from on this one or why you think Wiz shouldnt involve himself in the mangament of the team?

He offered him 2mill per, with none upfront or guarenteed. That is a joke. I dont blame Q a bit for being pissed about it.

Rules of business #1 - You dont stop negotiating because you are pissed off. That is what Boldin did, he never even sent a counterproposal and told the Cards flat out we will wait until Fitz gets his contract and the Cards flat told him timeline might change after that. Boldin took his chances and lost.

To try to attack him now because he doesn't want to play for YOUR favorite team anymore is not cool at all IMO.

I like my team more then I do any one player.