Boldin A Real Possibility?
By Joe Barnes
According to the B-More Sun, the Ravens have been talking to the Cardinals about acquiring the team’s star receiver, Anquan Boldin. According to this story, the Cardinals would demand a 1st and 3rd round pick to make the trade possible. Boldin has 2 years left on his contract, worth about $6M a year, but would demand a new, much more inflated contract once getting to a new team. He is only 28, and is in the prime of his career.
Boldin, if you’re not aware with his play on the field, Boldin has been to 3 Pro Bowls (’03, ’06, ’09), and averages just over 80 catches per year. In 6 seasons, he has 6496 total yards, and 40 touchdowns, including a career-high 11 last season. He also led the NFL in yards per game in 2005 with 100.1 yards per contest.
Other team in the hunt for Boldin mainly include the two New York teams, and the Eagles. The only question is, do you want Boldin on the team? He costs a lot, takes a lot to trade for, and has the potential to be a clubhouse-cancer type guy. On the other hand, he makes the Ravens a serious contender for a Super Bowl.
He can run his short precise routes over the middle, Mason can run his mid-distance curl routes and Clayton can be the deep threat. Suddenly with Boldin’s addition, those 2 guys, capable starters on any NFL team, are now “depth” at the position. This makes Demetrius Williams even further down the depth chart, and gives the Ravens the deepest receiving corps in the AFC North, with Donte Stallworth facing charges with the Browns, and T.J. Hoosh in Seattle. Vote on the poll if you want him or not, and comment with your thoughts.
This could be a franchise-changing trade, but is it worth the risk? Trading away two picks that could produce future stars? Paying a guy a lot who might not even want to be in Baltimore? I really think it’s worth it. If he’s added, the team’s weakest link is well, almost non-existent. Both of the lines are good, the defense is solid again, and the running game looked great. Now the receivers can finally not be an afterthought and start being opposing teams’ worries. I really feel like this could happen, and boy, I hope it does.
Vote on the new poll, comment, do whatever you want to do. Also, there will be a live blog during the draft. Whether it’s on the network’s main site, or whether I can get it on here, it will be a big live event, with contributors from each team and their lame fans. Chime in, do you want Boldin?
UPDATE: The poll isn’t changing on my computer, but my dashboard for WordPress says it’s being displayed. If you still have the poll about the #26 pick, someone please tell me, and I’ll try to figure out what’s wrong.