According to the Arizona Republic, the Eagles offered the Cardinals cornerback Sheldon Brown and a third round pick in exchange for receiver Anquan Boldin on draft day, but Arizona quickly rejected it. Bears’ GM Jerry Angelo also admitted that he offered the 49th overall pick in exchange for Boldin, but obviously was turned down himself.

Earlier this week, Eagles coach Andy Reid told a Philadelphia radio audience that the price for Boldin was too high, both in terms of trade compensation and a new contract. As a baseline, Reid threw out trade terms of first, third and fifth-round picks, in addition to a new contract worth $10 million or so a year.

Maybe Reid was trying to spin the situation to satisfy Eagles fans, some of whom have long clamored to trade for Boldin. In the radio interview, Reid went on to say that he didn’t think the Cardinals ever really wanted to trade Boldin. Of course, it would be hard to determine that when the best offer is Brown and a third rounder.

Maybe the Eagles figured they would take a stab at stealing Boldin for a pittance. No harm in that.
The Eagles never offered more than the third round pick and Brown, a seven-year veteran who is unhappy with his current contract. The Cardinals didn’t have a need for a starting cornerback after signing Bryant McFadden in free agency.

Sheldon and a third round pick for Boldin? I thought I heard laughter off in the distance on draft day – turns out it was Cardinals’ GM Rod Graves after talking with the Eagles.

Hey, it was worth a shot for the Eagles. If nothing came out of it, so be it. But if the Cards were at all desperate to relieve themselves from the Boldin situation, maybe they would have pulled the trigger on Philly’s offer. (And then would have been rightfully lambasted by their fans and media in the process.)

I wonder if Graves would have done a deal with Angelo for a second and a third, although the third would have had to been for 2010 because Chicago had already traded that pick to Denver for Jay Cutler. Still, if Angelo was able to pull a deal off for Boldin, then the Bears would have went from perennial NFC North favorites to legit Super Bowl contenders.

According to the Arizona Republic, Anquan Boldin’s agent Drew Rosenhaus has submitted a contract offer to the Cardinals, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the team is willing to negotiate at this time.

Rosenhaus said contrary to speculation, Boldin is not seeking a deal worth $10 million a year, which is what teammate Larry Fitzgerald is receiving. The recent offer is for less, Rosenhaus said.

An NFL source familiar with the proposal said the deal averaged just under $10 million per season.

Rosenhaus declined to say when he made the proposal to the Cardinals. He has discussed the proposal with Graves, he said, but the Cardinals have not responded with a counteroffer.

It could be the range of $8 million to $9 million a year on average. T.J. Houshmandzadeh signed a five-year, $40 million deal with Seattle this spring, with $15 million guaranteed.

Dallas traded for Roy Williams last year, then signed him to a five-year, $45 million deal with $20 million guaranteed.

If we’re talking solely about contract numbers, Boldin is definitely worth the $9 mil a year that Housh is getting. But it’s obviously not that simple for the Cards to just re-negotiate a deal like that for Boldin considering they’re already paying Fitzgerald $10 million a year. Plus, and this is a biggie, Boldin is still under contract for two more years. The Cardinals aren’t obligated to do anything with his contract if they don’t want to.

Nevertheless, at least the lines of communication are open between Rosenhaus and the Cardinals. We’ll see what Arizona’s countermove is.

Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald writes that the Dolphins are still monitoring Anquan Boldin’s situation in Arizona and haven’t dismissed the idea of trading for the disgruntled wideout.

The fact is the Dolphins definitely, positively have not thrown in the towel on 2009 for any reason, much less the fanciful one that they realize they’re not a Super Bowl contender. Be serious. Does that sound like Tony Sparano or Bill Parcells to you?

I’m going so far as telling you the Dolphins are still monitoring the Anquan Boldin situation. Parcells thinks this kid is a monster! He recognizes there are problems with trading for him — compensation to the Cardinals and compensation of $7-$8 million per year to the player. But the Dolphins have definitely not at this point completely dismissed the idea of being active on the matter if it ever hits the front burner.

Here’s a thought: As we know, Parcells gets awfully antsy when he stays in one place for too long. He almost bolted Miami after one year, so it’s not a stretch to think that he’ll jet after the 2009 season for another new adventure.

Given this line of thinking, if Parcells loves Boldin and knows he might not be around next year, what’s from stopping him for putting a package together for two high draft picks in the upcoming years (maybe a first and third next year) for Boldin and trying to win it all this season? What does he care – he won’t be around in 2010 when Miami has to deal with the lack of compensation. And nobody would call him out on it because A) they would be getting a great player in Boldin and B) Parcells would say that he was trying to win.

This news rumor has very little to stand on now, but it’ll be interesting to see if it develops over the summer.

Despite being upset about his contract situation, Anquan Boldin was at the Cardinals’ facility on Wednesday to get a physical, which could indicate that he plans on attending the team’s minicamp.

I’m not sure where Anquan Boldin’s head is in terms of his contract, but in terms of the mystery (if there ever really was one) of whether he would come to minicamp, he indeed was at the facility today to get his physical. Doesn’t make much sense to do that if he isn’t going to come to minicamp. We’ll have to double-check tomorrow, but with Boldin and Darnell Dockett both coming today, it looks like there won’t be any absences for the mandatory minicamp.

Now, whether Boldin practices, we’ll have to see. He came down with a sore hamstring at last year’s minicamp — about the time his contract issues first reached a boil. There might be some maladies for those seeking new contracts. Again, we will see. At least the drama of a missing guy will be avoided, and I would assume Boldin — and to a lesser extent, Dockett — will be tops on the media’s interview list after practice.

There were countless rumors heading into the draft that Boldin would be traded, but it appears that the Cardinals never really had any desire to deal their dynamic wideout in the first place. GM Rod Graves seems to be trying to wear Boldin and his agent out and the one weapon in Graves’ arsenal is that he knows Anquan loves playing football. It’s hard to envision Boldin holding out and while he may air his frustrations, he’s not going to allow a contract dispute interfere with him playing football.

My guess is that Anquan Boldin is going to be an Arizona Cardinal until his contract runs out at the end of the 2010 season.

The Cardinals have apparently lowered their asking price for wide receiver Anquan Boldin according to ESPN.com’s Sal Paolantonio.

The Arizona Cardinals have reduced their trade demands for disgruntled receiver Anquan Boldin to a second-round pick in Saturday’s draft and other considerations and are talking to at least three teams who seem to be newly interested, two sources told ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio on Friday.
The New York Jets, New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles have expressed interest given the downgraded demands from a first- and third-round pick, the sources said.

Cardinals general manager Rod Graves and coach Ken Whisenhunt had repeatedly emphasized at the team’s pre-draft news conference Tuesday that they would be happy to keep Boldin and eventually try to sign him to a new contract.

If I were GM Jerry Angelo of the Bears, I’d be all over this like stink on horse crap. Chicago doesn’t have a ton of holes to address after landing quarterback Jay Cutler in a trade and signing free agent offensive linemen Orlando Pace, Frank Omiyale and Kevin Shaffer. So why not give Cutler a dynamic weapon like Boldin in the passing game?

That said, the Bears did give up their first round pick and one of their thirds (they still have one compensatory selection left from losing receiver Bernard Berrian via free agency last year), so losing their second (plus whatever else the Cardinals wanted) would sink their entire draft.

Trading away two picks for Cutler was already out of character for Angelo. If he traded any more picks, the Bears would be wise to put out a search party to see where the real Jerry Angelo was being kept.

Update: Cardinals’ GM Rod Graves denies that the Cardinals have dropped their asking price on Boldin. Looks like just another internet rumor on NFL draft eve…

Team president Joe Banner says that trading for Cardinals’ receiver Anquan Boldin is still an option for the Eagles.

“We’re always looking for players that we think can make us better,” Banner said. “I think we’ve proven many times that we’d be willing to do what it takes, whether it be a trade or do something with somebody’s contract in order to get them here.”

Given that the Eagles surrendered a first-round draft pick – the 28th overall – and a fourth-round pick to get Peters, they have less trade ammunition than they did a few days ago, but Banner said the team would not rule out dealing its remaining first-round pick, the 21st overall.

“There are teams that start the year with only one first-round draft pick and they’ve traded them,” Banner said. “If we made another trade with a first-round draft pick, we’d just be in the same position as them. I think we’ll do whatever we evaluate to be the best move with any of the available players. . . . Some of the evaluation is about the quality of what we have at certain positions.”

It would seem that the Eagles’ biggest decision right now is whether to go after one of the top running backs in the first round of Saturday’s draft or try to trade for Boldin or one of the other star receivers that could be available. Both Cincinnati’s Chad Ocho Cinco (Chad Johnson) and Cleveland’s Braylon Edwards also are on the trade market.

This is one of those times when a team official says something without really saying anything. Philly GM Tom Heckert has said all along that the receiving corps is set, although I could see the Eagles adding a wideout in the later rounds come draft day.

The Eagles are in “win now” mode, so adding a dynamic piece like Boldin is certainly still a possibility, but I just can’t see them giving up two first round picks and possibly a third before the draft even starts on Saturday. That’s just not the Eagles’ style.

- SPORTSBYBROOKS brings us the (good) news that ESPN couldn’t come to terms with Stephen A. Smith on a new contract, so he won’t be with the Worldwide Leader for much longer. Apparently, ESPN’s offer was “considerably lower” than Smith’s previous contracts.

- MOONDOG SPORTS has the story of Charles Barkley’s speech at the University of Memphis. Apparently, Sir Charles believes that the NBA should require two years at the college level before a player can make himself eligible for the draft. That’s what David Stern originally wanted, but he had to compromise with the player’s union. Personally, I think a player should be able to go into the draft straight out of high school, but if he goes to college, he has to go for two years. These one-and-dones are wreaking havoc on the college game.

- JORGE SAYS NO has a list of the worst free agent contracts in baseball from 2005 to 2009.

- PRO FOOTBALL TALK says that the Cardinals want a first and a third for Anquan Boldin. For a team on the cusp — Titans, Giants, and maybe the Vikings — I think that would be worth it, but Boldin is turning 29 this year and that might be too much to give up for anyone else.

- DEADSPIN tells us that top linebacker prospect Aaron Curry is defying the spoiled athlete stereotype by bringing a 12-year-old leukemia survivor to the NFL Draft. That’s just reason #43 that Curry should be the Lions’ #1 pick.