Kaspers Korner

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Anquan Boldin earlier this year requested a trade.  At the end of the year he could get his wish as another teammate’s performance could allow it.

Wide receiver Steve Breaston is on pace for 75 catches, with 1,000 yards receiving.  What makes it remarkable is the Breaston is only in his second year.

Most wide receivers take three years to become this effective.  However, we are talking about the Cardinals who have a knack as of late to find wide receivers who are effective much quicker than most.

The emergence of Breaston allows the Cardinals to finally get rid of Boldin.  As of right now he has not been a problem, but that could change if he is still on the Cardinals roster next year.

For now the Cardinals must wait for Boldin to recover fully from a wicked hit in the head a couple of weeks ago against the New York Jets.

The Arizona Cardinals head coach Ken Wisenhunt has named Kurt Warner the starter for the opening of the regular season, thus signaling the end possibly for quarterback Matt Leinart’s career.  The move could eventually get Wisenhunt shown the door.

Leinart had a horrible performance in a preseason game against the Oakland Raiders throwing for three interceptions.

According to the East Valley Tribune quarterback Kurt Warner had this to said of Leinart’s performance, “He just wasn’t feeling it.  We all have those nights.”

That is exactly the thing with Leinart.  Wisenhunt has been yanking him out every time he has a bad outing, or starts a game off bad.

Simply, Leinart has never had a fair shake with the Cardinals.  How can a  quarterback succeed if every time something is going wrong he is not given a chance to work through it.

In the end Leinart will move on to another team, and most likely will succeed there.  No quarterback even the likes of a young Tom Brady or Peyton Manning could survive under Wisenhunt.

The Arizona Cardinals earlier this year redid the contract of wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, because horrible negotiating resulted in him having a $18 and $20 million cap figures for this year, and next.  Thanks to that, and promises, Boldin cutting off contract talks with the Cardinals.

“After last year, I was promised a deal would get done before this season. But the season is here and obviously that hasn’t happened. I don’t want a deal. People may think I’m being funny, or just saying that to say that. But I’m just tired of it. I’m washing my hands of the whole situation,”  Boldin said.

Seriously, who in their right mind would promise a new contract by start of training camp, with Fitzgerald’s contract still looming.

Fitzgeralds contract was so big that they had to wait in resigning its own players.  Even now, the contract is the real reason as to why the two sides cannot get a deal done.

Many Cardinal Fans are upset with the fact that Boldin is wanting a new deal after only one year into the contract extension.  However, the fact of the matter is that the deal the Chicago Bears did with linebacker Brian Urlacher has set forth that if a contract is disprotionate to the markey place the player now has the right to demand a new contract. 

In the end the Cardinals and Boldin have to wait till next year.

Arizona Cardinals general manger Rod Graves earliers this offseason franchise tagged linebacker Carlos Dansby.   During negotiations Graves has contradicted himself, thus putting him in a bad spot.

We certainly have a high opinion of Karlos and his value to our team,” said Graves.  That opinion led the team slapping Dansby with the one year Franchise tag.   The one year deal is worth $8.065 million this year for linebackers.

However, when in negotiations with Dansby agent, Kirk Wood, Graves offered contracts of only six million a year.  Which, is not even close to the Franchise tag.

There is only one way that can describe Graves during these negotiations, and that is stupid.  If you slap someone with a certain tag, then common sense would lead you to believe that a long term deal needs to be with in that range when it comes yearly average salary.

There is no excuse for Graves not getting a deal done.  If the deal that Graves offered was a little more than eight million per a year, with a little be more guarantee money than what Calvin Pace got from the Jets, it would already be done.

What Graves did was just plain dumb, and insulting.  The Cardinals could have gotten Dansby at a relatively fair price.  However, the insulting contact offer has raised the bar for what the dollar amount will be to get a deal done.

In the end the Cardinals will lose a quality player, that should never have happened.

The Arizona Cardinals have not made the playoffs for a long time, and deservedly so for a reason.  That reason being their quarterback situation is a mess. 

Head coach Ken Whisenhunt reinterated again yesterday that Leinart is the starter, and Warner was the backup.  In a previous voluntary practice if you saw it you would have thought that not be the case.  Whisenhunt had Warner with the first unit offense, and Leinart with the second.

The games that Whisenhunt is playing is just plain dumb.  Leinart has worked very hard this offseason, according to the AZ Central.  According to Kent Somers Leinart has attended workout sessions regularly with strength and conditioning coach John Lott.  Also, he has been watching video with quarterback coach Jeff Rutledge.

What Whisenhunt is doing nothing, but hurting his team.  It is crucial for a young developing quarterback to develop a chemistry with his wide receivers.  If he does not get as many snaps as possible with them, then the timing will be completely off, and the results will be disaster.

If Whisenhunt wants to keep his job he better wakeup quick, because his actions are nothing more than that of a rookie head coach.  A head coach is only as good as his quarterback, and if his franchise quarterback is a failure he is a failure.

The Arizona Cardinals signed wide reciver Larry Fitzgerald to four year $40 million dollar extension.  Now, wider receiver Anquan Boldin is asking to be payed or traded.

Fitzgerald was an exception, becuase he had so high of a cap figure that the Cardinals had to rework his deal just so they can resign some other players of their own.  Since, his numbers were so high they were not able to do anything till they reworked his deal.

Boldin on the other hand does not make as much money, and is signed through 2010.  For him to ask for more money, considering that that Cardinals had to redo a deal just so they can have some money to sign their own players, and draft picks, is absolutely stupifying.  Like they really have anymoney to pay him.

The fact is that he should keep his mouth shut, and just play.  If he was to do that then the Cardinals would be more likely to pay him, or trade him, since he would have only one year left.  Then Boldin will have a big pay day.  However,  if he was to be a pain in the rear all season long most teams would be leary of giving him a big pay day.

With the Cardinals refusing to pay him or trade him Boldin just needs to shut up, and play.  After all good things come to those who wait.

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Matt Leinart showed his true colors this week in his infamous pictures that popped on the internet.  What the picture really are about is Leinart’s future career in the National Football League.

Leinart’s pictures shows that he does not have the capacity, or the maturity to hand things at the professional level.  If a quarterback makes bad decisions off the field then he will do the same on the field. 

It is amazing that teams can push things aside about players.  When Leinart was entering the draft the rumour was that Leinart is a party guy, and teams ruled it as not a problem. 

The fact of the matter is that teams cannot just brush off problems, or rumours, and now they all must be deal accordingly.

As for the Cardinals they will be looking for a new quarterback soon.  No matter how good Leinart is, if he continues this kind of behavior he will be out of the league.

The Arizona Cardinals number one thing to get done was a acontract extension for wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald.  That got done as the two sides agreed to a four year deal worth $40 million, with a $15 million signing bonus.

The deal creates $8.8 million in salary cap room.  That is hufe for the Cardinals, becuase they can extend some other players, including franchise player linebacker Carlos Dansby.

Cardinals general manager Rod Graves said that thier number priority now is signing their own.  That is the smart thing to do in the end.

The Arizona Cardinals are stuck between a rock and a hard place with wide receiverLarry Fitzgerald’s contract.  In the end they made the right call in regards to it.

According to NFL.com Vice President of Football Operations Rod Graves said this, “He’s a core player, and like so many other players we’re excited about with respect to our football team, we are going to do what we have to do to keep that core player.”

Graves went on to state that the team will live with the contract, becuase, “He’s earned the right to be where he is.”  That is the right call in this matter.

Wide receivers over 6′0, and with talent, will always be on the look for.  Teams would have paid a kings ransom to get their hands on Fitzgerald considering how receivers Terrel Owens and Randy Moss played this year.

Besides Fitzgerald, Randy Moss and Chad Johnson are the only other two receivers in the top five in receiving yards this year to have multiple 1,000 yard seasons within their first four years.  Not even Marvin Harrison, or Steve Smith have accomplished this.

What Fitzgerald has accomplished is very rare to do in the NFL.  To get rid of him would be the biggest mistake that the Cardinals could have done, and if they do get rid of him then forget the playoffs for the next several years

The Arizona Cardinals are in a predictament that only the Washington Redskins know of.  That being they have to get wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald’s contract redone, or have problems singing anyone.

Kent Somers of the Arizona Central said this, “General Manager Rod Graves has said that the Cardinals plans this off-season hinge on restructuring Fitzgerald’s contract.”

That is pretty much the bottom line with the team.  They franchised Karlos Dansby, which means if they are going to get a long term deal with Dansby done they have to hurry up with Fitzgeaald.

If Graves is the general manager that did this kind of contract with Fitzgerald, then he should be immediately fired.

In any which ways the Cardinals are in a mess, and they know it.  Graves better get going, because if he does not then he will lost players, and not make any upgrades through free agency.

Larry Fitzgerald has confirmed that he is a top five receiver in the NFL with a 100 reception 1,409 yards year.  Which, means a big pay day is coming for him.

Fitzgerald having another big year means that teams must game plan specifically for him.  Which, is hard when a healthy Anquan Boldin is on the other side.

The problem for the Cardinals is that Fitzgeralds cap number is $15 million.  Most likely from incentives that were triggered by Fitzgerald performance on the feild. Then in 2009, his final year, his salary cap number will be $17 million

Those number mean a considerable bonus money for Fitzgerald.  The franchise tag number for wide receivers is $7.9 million. 

So, for the Cardinals to rework Fitzgerald’s contract it will at least cost them $16 million dollars.  That is just to reduce his yearly cap numbers down to a respectable number.  Then add on additional years you are talking about a range of $25-$30 million in up front money.

Fitzgerald is derfinately worth it without a doubt.  You have seen what happened to the Dallas Cowboys when they were without Terrell Owens.

The main thing to do for the Cardinals is solve their quarterback controversy.  Wether the team likes it, or not, Matt Leinart should be the starting quarterback in the 2008.

Leinart should be able to show strides with having the same coaching staff as last year.  Everything is the same in regards to the offense.  The only thing left to do is give Leinart the experience he needs on the field.

The fact of the matter is Leinart should not be given a long rope.  If Leinart does not get things going by the halfway mark of the season then he most likely never will. 

First thing is first for the Cardinals.  That being they have to get Fitzgerald done, and the players contracts that are expiring on March 1st.