According to the Arizona Republic, the Cardinals have denied wide receiver Anquan Boldin’s request for a trade.
Drew Rosenhaus made the first request in the spring, although Boldin denied asking for a trade. Team officials, however, confirmed that request, and sources close to the situation said Rosenhaus recently asked them again to trade Boldin or allow Rosenhaus to shop for a deal.
The Cardinals’ stance remains unchanged, according to a team spokesman. They have no intention of trading Boldin and are hopeful of signing him to a contract extension.
Rosenhaus declined comment, but a source close to negotiations said Boldin is unhappy, does not talk to coach Ken Whisenhunt and wants out of Arizona. It’s possible Boldin could walk out of training camp, the source said, even though he is under contract for three more years and subject to fines of $15,000 a day.
Boldin said he believes Whisenhunt became too involved in negotiations.
“At this point we have no relationship, and I don’t see that changing,” Boldin told NFL Network on Monday. “It’s just gotten to a point where I think lines were crossed. If you ask me, coaches should be coaches, management should be management, and I don’t think those lines should be crossed. But when you cross those lines, you put yourself in position for things like this to happen.”
Even though he’s dealing with a hamstring injury, Boldin’s situation might open the door for rookie Early Doucet, who runs excellent routes and has good hands. Of course, Doucet would be more effective in the slot with Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald on the outsides.
It’ll be interesting to see what the conclusions will be to Boldin and Rams’ running back Steven Jackson’s contract situations. Both cases look rocky right now.
