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It didn’t take long after the trade of wide receiver Anquan Boldin for him to start whining about his contract negotiations with the Arizona Cardinals.
Boldin was traded to the Baltimore Ravens five days ago, which leaves the Cardinals short one great receiver, but it also puts an end to the team’s Anquan Boldin problem.
Boldin, who after the 2005 season signed a four-year, $22 million contract extension with the Cards, has spent the last two years publicly pissing and moaning that he deserves more.
Now that he’s gone — and getting paid more — the pissing and moaning about the Cardinals continues.
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“As far as relationships with the organization, things began to sour,” Boldin said this morning on ESPN Radio. “From my end, there were some promises that were made and some sacrifices on my part, and they just didn’t live up to their end of the bargain.
“For me, I’m a straight-up guy. I think if you come up and talk to me and tell me exactly where things are going and what you’re thinking, even if I don’t agree, I can definitely respect it. But to be led the wrong way and told something differently is totally unacceptable to me.”
Over the last four years, Boldin proved himself a big-name receiver, worthy of big-name money. But then Larry Fitzgerald happened.
Coming off of an incredible 2008 season, Fitzgerald was given a four-year, $40 million contract, which only angered Boldin more.
Fitzgerald even offered to take a pay cut just to pacify Boldin — and his agent to the stars, Drew Rosenhaus — but the whining continued.
The bottom line is that the Cardinals had two great receivers and only so much money to spend on them. Boldin deserves big-time dough, but Cardinals fans don’t deserve the whining (the guy was still making more money in an hour than most people make in a week).
It became clear that the Cards chose between Boldin and Fitzgerald, they made the right choice.
Bon voyage, Anquan. We’ll miss the acrobatic catches but not the attitude.
