If Its A "Business", Let's Improve The Product

I understand the arguments for trading Anquan Boldin because this is a business. I don't agree with them. Still, business should try and get the most out of a product. Well, Ozzie, the ball is in your court.

Just five weeks ago, Anquan Boldin was a member of the Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens. Just five weeks ago, he couldn't be happier with where he was, finally reaching the pinnacle goal of every NFL player. Five weeks ago, he was the best receiver and most clutch offensive playmaker on a team that had gone through Andrew Luck, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and the best defense in the league en route to winning the Super Bowl.

Five weeks later, he is shipped to San Francisco.

Seems pretty impersonal and brutal, doesn't it? Well, that's because "the NFL is a business." 


Look, I understand that the NFL is a business. Roger Goodell is all about maximizing profit, as are every single one of the owners in the league, I don't care what your argument is. Predicated on that, why do the teams with the best talent on paper rarely win the Super Bowl? If the NFL is a business, why does so much on winning or losing come down to intangible affects, like team chemistry, team cohesion, brotherhood, momentum, confidence, experience and other things that can't be bought?

It's easy to say the NFL is a business because it is such a validating excuse. In the end, teams are trying to make money, players are "trying to put food on the table" and that's that. But that doesn't validate it for me. I know teams face a salary cap, but how can the Baltimore Ravens decide to trade possibly the second most important factor on their team in winning the Super Bowl five weeks ago?! Without Boldin's 95 yards per game in the postseason, without his four touchdown catches in four games, without his undeniable experience and clutch motivation and without his game changing third down conversion in the Super Bowl, do the Baltimore Ravens win said Super Bowl? No, they simply do not.

Anquan Boldin was the best receiver on this team since he got here three years ago. He is only 32 years old, so any argument that "the Ravens got rid of him before his decline" are laughable. Not just because of his age, but because of the receiver that he is. Boldin's game doesn't depend on separating from coverage or speed, nor does it rely on agility and versatility. Boldin is a possession receiver and his game is built on strength and making clutch catch after clutch catch. Turning 33 will not take that ability away from him. Boldin instantly makes the 49ers Super Bowl favorites for next season and for the foreseeable future. That is the same 49ers team that Boldin and the Ravens just fought tooth and nail to beat five weeks ago. 

Anquan Boldin refused to take a pay cut to make room on the team roster to afford resigning Paul Kruger and Dannelle Ellerbee, both linebackers who are relatively young. Boldin claimed that he signed a contract and expected to play that contract out. He would never ask for more money, so why would he take less? I can't bash Boldin here, he has a point. Sure, he doesn't need the money. Any NFL player who claims six million compared to seven million simply won't allow them to support their family is a jackass. But the principle of Boldin being the second best player on this team for the past three years and Flacco being arguably the third (Ray Rice completes this team) is present. Flacco just received the largest contract in NFL history, which is fine, I fully back that up. However, asking Boldin to take a pay cut after that is a slap in the face of the most productive receive we've seen in years, maybe ever for this franchise. Valuing all of these other players over Boldin was ugly, and I don't think Boldin felt respected anymore and I frankly do not blame him. Baltimore could have found a way to make this work, after all, that's what businesses do, right?

Baltimore could have said to Flacco, "Listen, we need to keep Boldin too. Anyway you take slightly less money?" I guarantee they did not ask him this for fear of having him walk. I don't think Flacco takes that offer because he seemed pretty set on getting the largest contract in history because he really thinks he deserves that in his head. Still, Baltimore could have thrown the idea out there. Secondly, you don't think Anquan Boldin being on the team is more important than resigning Ellerbee or Kruger? Both of them had pretty good seasons, and Kruger posted one of the best postseasons a linebacker could possibly have. Kruger was a beast in those four games. Bottom line: they are both replaceable. Anquan Boldin is not, but the Ravens think otherwise and it is a damn shame. 

Baltimore will struggle to defend their championship with the way the offseason is shaping up. Trading Anquan Boldin to the team they just defeated in the Super Bowl five freaking weeks ago is a sign of disrespect in my eyes (not to mention they valued Boldin around a sixth round draft pick). Maybe Boldin will decline and maybe Newsome made the right call here. Maybe not, though. I don't think he handled it well, and kudos to Boldin for thanking the fans on his time in Baltimore. An honorable player who gave every game and every play his all. Baltimore will miss him for sure. Hope the money saved is money well spent, Newsome.