An embarassment of riches?

[dryheat44]

Many people, and the line starts behind me, have mentioned the real need for a WR fairly high in the draft and/or a quality vet free agent (Gaffney, Engram, McDonald). And we all know that WR is, according to BB, the hardest position to project successfully. We also know that we have a lot of high draft picks to work with.

WHAT IF we were to acquire WR Anquan Boldin, either as a free agent or a sign-and-trade? Boldin will almost certainly be playing somewhere else next year, with all the money Arizona has tied up in Fitzie and the emergence of the Breast man, plus other quality depth. Boldin isn't upset with the Cardinals because he doesn't see enough balls -- he's not Terrell Owens. He's upset with the Cards for bending over backwards to make Fitzie the highest paid WR in the NFL and letting him languish on his 2nd rounder rookie deal.

We all know Boldin's a player, and that he'll play hurt and go 100% I don't even want to think about how good this offense gets with a Moss/Boldin/Welker/Aiken WR corps, with a TE who can catch (Thomas or a Rook) with a Maroney/Morris/Faulk hydra. And #12 at the trigger.

At the risk of joining the Bill Polian school of cap management, if it doesn't absolutely kill our cap, I think we do it. In two years we can let Moss walk and let Boldin be our #1. I don't advocate throwing money at name players very often, but with our offense, we could seriously make up for any shortcomings in the secondary...not to mention how good we are playing from in front. We'd probably have to make Hochstein or O'Callaghan a full-time blocking TE, but I'm cool with that.

Is this beyond reason?

 

[JSn]

You know, that's not a bad idea. Considering that we all expect the draft to address our defensive needs (possibly except safety) and they'll need half the year to become effective, hopefully rounding out into a league best D by the 2010 season, making the offense a notch scarier could be awesome. And you then have 3 WR's who are capable of demanding double coverage. Maroney could finally look like an all-pro RB, hehe.

I guess I'll be interested to see what the long-timer's think, but I'd vote for the idea as a go. Proven talent at WR is the best way to go, as I think the 2007 Pats are proof of, especially with TFB working the gunship.

 

[ALP]

hmm, how bout we first see how good this team will be next yr, as opposed to its record setting self in 07

i dont believe it will all that different, and w/ an offense that scores more then 35 ppg, how would u justify spending mroe money on offense? in order to increase it to 40 ppg?

if ur team gives up more then 30 on defense, that is that unit that needs work

i see the skill positions in the O are done, the line needs a little work, and maybe an AVERAGE wr at best, but defenetely no big name wr...we need to work on defense...

 

[patchick]

According to Rotoworld, Boldin is signed for 2 more years at salaries of $2.75M and $3M. Watching him line up with Moss and Welker would be a beautiful thing.

 

[363839]

That does sound real cool.
Unstoppable offense, I'd say.
But who is Aiken? If you got Moss, Welker and Boldin why would you
include Aiken?

 

[dryheat44]

That does sound real cool.
Unstoppable offense, I'd say.
But who is Aiken? If you got Moss, Welker and Boldin why would you
include Aiken?

Special teams/depth

 

[dryheat44]

According to Rotoworld, Boldin is signed for 2 more years at salaries of $2.75M and $3M. Watching him line up with Moss and Welker would be a beautiful thing.

I don't think that's correct. Perhaps his contract voided with performance.

Edit: Sadly, it is correct. I remember hearing Boldin saying pre-season that he was going to refuse to negotiate and get out of Arizona. I guess I assumed that it was after 2008.

I was also wrong when I said he was on his rookie contract. His current extension was signed in 2005.

At the same time, the Cards offered him 1/2 of what Fitgerald makes. He might decide to hold out, or the Cards might decide to avoid the scenario altogether, although if not, I see no incentive for the Cards to deal him as far as they are under the cap. If only Warner were retiring...and we could ship Cassel there and Leinart could back him up.

 

[patchick]

Edit: Sadly, it is correct.

A shame, I was hoping you knew something different!

 

[dryheat44]

A shame, I was hoping you knew something different!

Maybe we could still make a trade. I'd gladly send that TE-needy team a very-affordable Ben Watson as part of the package. With Boldin, we wouldn't need a speed freak TE to stretch the field, just one with reliable hands to work the short zones.

Watson, BenJarvus, and a #2? Or is that an unreasonable package?

 

[CanadianPat'sFan]

Interesting and with Randy Moss leaving in a 2010 (I would say) that free's up $$ at the WR position and you cannot argue with his youth and production over Moss. Send them Watson and a draft pick then extend him in 2010 when Moss is gone wow I never though about that. The way he runs those quick screens playing opposite to Welker would be tough on Defenses.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

I don't think that's correct. Perhaps his contract voided with performance.

Edit: Sadly, it is correct. I remember hearing Boldin saying pre-season that he was going to refuse to negotiate and get out of Arizona. I guess I assumed that it was after 2008.

I was also wrong when I said he was on his rookie contract. His current extension was signed in 2005.

At the same time, the Cards offered him 1/2 of what Fitgerald makes. He might decide to hold out, or the Cards might decide to avoid the scenario altogether, although if not, I see no incentive for the Cards to deal him as far as they are under the cap. If only Warner were retiring...and we could ship Cassel there and Leinart could back him up.

Well, it's possible that if Warner wins the SB, he might decide to go out on top, since he was giving serious thought to retiring this year.

 

[BradyManny]

Many people, and the line starts behind me, have mentioned the real need for a WR fairly high in the draft and/or a quality vet free agent (Gaffney, Engram, McDonald). And we all know that WR is, according to BB, the hardest position to project successfully. We also know that we have a lot of high draft picks to work with.

WHAT IF we were to acquire WR Anquan Boldin, either as a free agent or a sign-and-trade? Boldin will almost certainly be playing somewhere else next year, with all the money Arizona has tied up in Fitzie and the emergence of the Breast man, plus other quality depth. Boldin isn't upset with the Cardinals because he doesn't see enough balls -- he's not Terrell Owens. He's upset with the Cards for bending over backwards to make Fitzie the highest paid WR in the NFL and letting him languish on his 2nd rounder rookie deal.

We all know Boldin's a player, and that he'll play hurt and go 100% I don't even want to think about how good this offense gets with a Moss/Boldin/Welker/Aiken WR corps, with a TE who can catch (Thomas or a Rook) with a Maroney/Morris/Faulk hydra. And #12 at the trigger.

At the risk of joining the Bill Polian school of cap management, if it doesn't absolutely kill our cap, I think we do it. In two years we can let Moss walk and let Boldin be our #1. I don't advocate throwing money at name players very often, but with our offense, we could seriously make up for any shortcomings in the secondary...not to mention how good we are playing from in front. We'd probably have to make Hochstein or O'Callaghan a full-time blocking TE, but I'm cool with that.

Is this beyond reason?

Count me in. I think its a great idea. With a healthy Brady, this offense would be scary beyond words.

 

[bakes781]

I like it a lot better than the idea of drafting an unknown commodity only to have him turn out to be the next Chad Jackson/Bethel.

 

[billdog3484]

obviously boldin is a very good player, but he will almost certainly be asking for quite a bit of money, and with the concerns about Brady;s knee, i think saving money to keep Cassel takes a higher priority.

 

[363839]

Special teams/depth

Ok...I guess. If he's that good, I'll go along.

 

[mmasterkillah]

I don't know how many times I'm gonna have to say it but I don't think it it would be wise at all to go and chase offensive skill players at this point. Going to get a big name WR would be useless and a complete waste of an opportunity to solidify this young defense for years.

With a healthy Tom Brady and a few minor adjustments, we are still going to put up a huge number of points. If we can re-sign some of our own d-lineman, sign a solid offensive lineman and get a safety I think that would be a much better use of the cash.

If we can find value than I am all for it, but some big name guy like Boldin or Ocho Cinco (or eventually T.O. lol) is absolutely out of the question.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

Many people, and the line starts behind me, have mentioned the real need for a WR fairly high in the draft and/or a quality vet free agent (Gaffney, Engram, McDonald). And we all know that WR is, according to BB, the hardest position to project successfully. We also know that we have a lot of high draft picks to work with.

WHAT IF we were to acquire WR Anquan Boldin, either as a free agent or a sign-and-trade? Boldin will almost certainly be playing somewhere else next year, with all the money Arizona has tied up in Fitzie and the emergence of the Breast man, plus other quality depth. Boldin isn't upset with the Cardinals because he doesn't see enough balls -- he's not Terrell Owens. He's upset with the Cards for bending over backwards to make Fitzie the highest paid WR in the NFL and letting him languish on his 2nd rounder rookie deal.

We all know Boldin's a player, and that he'll play hurt and go 100% I don't even want to think about how good this offense gets with a Moss/Boldin/Welker/Aiken WR corps, with a TE who can catch (Thomas or a Rook) with a Maroney/Morris/Faulk hydra. And #12 at the trigger.

At the risk of joining the Bill Polian school of cap management, if it doesn't absolutely kill our cap, I think we do it. In two years we can let Moss walk and let Boldin be our #1. I don't advocate throwing money at name players very often, but with our offense, we could seriously make up for any shortcomings in the secondary...not to mention how good we are playing from in front. We'd probably have to make Hochstein or O'Callaghan a full-time blocking TE, but I'm cool with that.

Is this beyond reason?

Isn't Boldin just a more physical version of Gaffney. Boldin is not that fast and with Welker and Faulk working underneath and in the flats, it starts to get real crowded close to the LOS.

I think an intermediate guy, 8 to 15 yard routes, is what this offense needs most at the WR and/or TE position. Unfortunately I do not see Watson being the guy for this job from the TE position. The WR name that comes to mind is Branch, if Seattle cuts him.

 

[VJCPatriot]

According to Rotoworld, Boldin is signed for 2 more years at salaries of $2.75M and $3M. Watching him line up with Moss and Welker would be a beautiful thing.

Yes but the reason he is unhappy is exactly BECAUSE he is only getting paid 2.75M and 3M. Don't expect a Boldin trade to happen unless the Pats agree to tear up Boldin's contract and give him a new one. Besides the cash that the Pats will have to pay Boldin, what kind of compensation will be expected in return? If it's a 2nd round pick, I'd do it. If it's a 1st round pick... I'm really hesitant to pull the trigger considering the money we'd also have to pay out.

 

[BradyManny]

Isn't Boldin just a more physical version of Gaffney. Boldin is not that fast and with Welker and Faulk working underneath and in the flats, it starts to get real crowded close to the LOS.

I think an intermediate guy, 8 to 15 yard routes, is what this offense needs most at the WR and/or TE position. Unfortunately I do not see Watson being the guy for this job from the TE position. The WR name that comes to mind is Branch, if Seattle cuts him.

This is what I've been dying for to happen, but the Seattle GM has said they are keeping Branch, unfortunately. Thinking of Deion in this offense makes my football-imagination overload.

 

[VJCPatriot]

Isn't Boldin just a more physical version of Gaffney. Boldin is not that fast and with Welker and Faulk working underneath and in the flats, it starts to get real crowded close to the LOS.

It embarrasses me to even read someone comparing Gaffney to Boldin. In what cave do you dwell, and what playoffs were you watching in 2008? Boldin is one of the best wide receivers in the NFL. Gaffney is a serviceable #3. Boldin would be the #1 wideout on many teams in the NFL. Please don't EVER do that again. That would be saying, isn't Watson just a less physical Antonio Gates? NOT EVEN CLOSE!