Anquan's $50 Million Question: Would That Be Enough to Mend Fences with Cards?

It seems it's all change for the Cardinals.

Things around Glendale are strangely unfamiliar. Be it changes with coaching staff, with the departures of Todd Haley and Clancy Pendergast, the players, with free agency just around the corner, and question marks over many of the pillars of the team, or just fan expectations and, finally changes in the all-too-bare Cardinals trophy case, the Cards entered the off-season as a very different franchise than Cardinals teams of years gone by. 

Perhaps the biggest change for Arizona to deal with is the sudden media frenzy surrounding them.

While this is perhaps not a new experience for the likes of Coach Whisenhunt, for the Bidwell Family, the Arizona faithful, and many career Cardinals, the experience is new, and in some cases, perhaps a little unexpected. 

One such player is current Cardinal Anquan Boldin. 

Boldin, or Q to his friends and colleagues, seems to be relishing his newfound media attention. Anquan Boldin has taken every opportunity given to him to address one point, and one point only: His contract. And Q making no secret of his feelings towards the Cardinals organization.

"I don't think the relationship can be repaired with the organization," said Boldin according to the oft-quoted USA Today article.

"It takes more than, 'Well, we did you wrong and we'll pay you this.' It's not about the money. It was always about the principle. Guys being true to their word. I guess I was expected to uphold my end of the bargain, and it wasn't reciprocated." 

And while his position of late seems to have softened, the fact remains, Anquan Boldin will continue to be one of the most discussed trade sagas of the off-season.

Throughout the next weeks and months, the media and fans alike will continue to predict what colour jersey No. 81 will be wearing next season. Philly Green, or Blue in the Motown?

My prediction... Cardinal Red... and I think he knows it.

Let's be frank. Boldin feels let down by the Cardinals organization, and he is probably right to do so. After all, he's posted near identical stats to his friend and teammate Larry Fitzgerald, and yet No. 11 makes nearly twice Boldin's annual salary.

According to Boldin, he was promised a salary bump after the 2007, by the infamously tight-fisted Bidwell family, who then, according to type, decided not to pay him any more after all.

When the Arizona Cardinals became front page news, Boldin found a whole new audience to tell this story to. And with the likes of Drew Rosenhaus at his side, no one should have expected any differently. 

Rosenhaus, Boldin's agent, has made a name for himself representing some of the most vocal personalities in the NFL, and Boldin seems to be singing from Drew's hymn sheet.

Rosenhaus is notoriously aggressive in his contract negotiation tactics, and, credit where credit is due, often lands his players the big bucks.

So what does this all mean for Anquan's future as a Cardinal?

Honestly, not a lot.

First things first. Boldin may be one of the louder voices in the sea of players looking for a huge, multi-million dollar deal this off-season, but he is also one of the most in-contract ones too.

Boldin remains under contract with Arizona until 2010, and should he remain a Cardinal, Arizona could easily stretch that to 2011 or beyond with the use of a franchise tag.

Arizona is a team with nearly $41 million in cap room heading into the 2009 season, and while at least some of that is unquestionably earmarked for must-sign free agents, the Cardinals are not in a position where they need to free up the space to pay his outstanding contract. 

Does Arizona want to enter the season with one of it's stars holding out on a contract? Of course not! But are they willing to? If it comes to it, I believe they are. I believe Whisenhunt and the organization are willing to call his bluff, and trust that he is smarter than his words and actions appear to show at the moment. 

All of this talk certainly has a definite stench of value inflation. It's a poker game. Boldin has raised the stakes on a bluff, and is waiting for the organization to fold.

The more he insists there is no chance he will sign, the more the organization believes they have to offer him to get him to stay. It's all games, and right now, no-one involved is used to playing them on this stage. 

For all of Boldin's and Rosenhaus's talk, and there will undoubtedly be a lot more of it, I do not think even Boldin really believes he is genuinely courting potential suitors. His only real suitor is the Cardinals, he is merely playing hard to get.

So will Boldin sign a new contract? If he's smart, I think he will, because either way, I don't think he has a choice about where he plays next year.

Arizona will offer him a good deal, somewhere along the lines of his teammate Fitzgerrald's, and Boldin will undoubtedly sign it, assuming he believes Warner will be back next season.

If he doesn't, I have no doubt he will play for Arizona next season under his current contract, and, like it or not, he will play. It may not be about the money, but with an agent like Drew Rosenhaus, you'd be amazed just how much it can repair.

For all of his posturing, idle talk and arguably poor choices this off-season so far, Boldin is not a stupid man. He knows as well as anyone that holding out only hurts his value in the long term, and if the Cardinals management are willing to show resolve, and not trade No. 81, he will have no choice but to quickly fall into line and retain what value he can. 

Of course, all of this falls apart if Arizona can not demonstrate decisive leadership, a willingness to spend money on key assets, and a refusal to be pushed around by their players, something they have not demonstrated in the past. 

It may be all change at the Cardinals, and yet, as so often can happen, the more things change, the more they can stay the same.

Unless old attitudes change quickly, the post-season of 2008, and many of the players who got them there, may soon be relegated to the annals of Cardinal history.