WILL CARDS CHANGE THEIR MINDS ON BOLDIN?

Vinnie Iyer of SportingNews.com has compiled an intriguing list of potential destinations for Cardinals receiver Anquan Boldin. At the risk of being perceived as dissing a SportingNews.com colleague, here’s our take on the situation. For starters, the entire exercise of picking out places where Boldin might land presumes that the Cardinals will trade him. Though, as Iyer points out, Boldin’s trade value might never be any higher, these are the Cardinals. The team that made it to the Super Bowl despite their usual ways. In the wake of this historic event, they fired their defensive coordinator (which if they’d done it a year or two earlier might have resulted in a Super Bowl victory) and they fired their quarterbacks coach (which makes no sense, given that their starting quarterback had an MVP-caliber season). Most surprisingly, they’re sitting on their hands, thumbs pointing north, as Kurt Warner approaches unrestricted free agency. So while it might be wise for the Cardinals to trade Boldin now, the Cardinals rarely have been accused of displaying wisdom. The situation isn’t without precedent. Last year, it was in the Bengals’ best interests to send receiver Chad Johnson to the Redskins for what could have become two first-round draft picks. But the Bengals opted to prove a point instead of making the team better. The Cards, as we hear it, intend to use the same approach. If it’s a ruse aimed at driving up the trade offer then all we can say is, “Bravo.” We have a feeling, however, that it isn’t. As to the list of potential suitors, we agree that the Giants have the biggest need for a receiver who’ll command double coverage, given the likely unavailability (due to incarceration or otherwise) of Plaxico Burress. The real question, however, is whether the Giants will be willing to do business with Boldin’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, in the wake of the team’s consternation regarding the Rosenhaus e-mail identifying Burress as a potential trade target, and a strident “I can do whatever I want” reaction from the agent. If/when a team acquires Boldin’s rights, it’ll have to be ready to re-do his deal. If the Giants genuinely are pissed about efforts by Rosenhaus to instigate a market for Burress, they simply might not believe that they can work out with him a mutually acceptable contract for Anquan. So we’d put Iyer’s second team -- the Eagles -- at the top of the list. The Eagles chased Randy Moss last year, which shows that they realize the value of a high-end wideout. And Boldin, who is slower than most of the men who justify the attention two defenders, would be a great complement to the speedy DeSean Jackson. As to the Bills and the Cowboys, we think that both teams already have too much cash tied up in the position to afford Boldin. As to the Chiefs and the Bears and the Raiders and the Dolphins, we’re intrigued. Other possibilities include, in our view, the Jets (if they dump Laveranues Coles), the Ravens (if Derrick Mason is gone), the Jaguars, the Titans, the Redskins, the Vikings, the Buccaneers, the Seahawks, the 49ers, and the Rams. (We realize that the last three possibilities would constitute trades within the division. But, remember, we’re talking about the Cardinals here.) Regardless of how it all turns out, we’ll continue to assume that the Cardinals will find a way to make the wrong decision. Even though they’ve shown that they can navigate their way to a single Super Bowl appearance, they’ve yet to persuade us that they’re able to negotiate the business challenges that come from having good players who want more money.