The Cardinals say the draft of receiver Early Doucet in Round 3 has nothing to do with the status of Anquan Boldin.
I would agree.
Boldin would like a new contract (wouldn’t we all?), especially after Larry Fitzgerald got his new deal.
But Fitzgerald’s contract had – in effect – run out because he hit incentives in his old contract.
The situation isn’t the same for Boldin.
The idea that they would trade him is a head-scratcher. Why would they?
He’s under contract for another THREE years for about $13 million. He’s about the last guy on Earth who would be traded. Good players who are under reasonable contracts are the guys you want to keep.
For the record, coach Ken Whisenhunt on Sunday said, “We fully expect Anquan Boldin will be playing with us…We also hope that we will get him under a long-term contract.”
Three more seasons, though, is already a pretty long time. You’d think they’d want Boldin to play in 2008 and stay relatively healthy before signing him to a new deal.
Fitzgerald held all the cards in his negotiations. The Cards have the cards with Boldin.

In at least a mild surprise, the Cardinals didn’t come away with a running back in the first day of the NFL draft.

The Cardinals were also looking for cornerbacks and pass rushers, so it’s not a huge shock that they took cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie in Round 1 and defensive end Calais Campbell in Round 2.

So look for them to pick a running back or two on Sunday, along with the proverbial “best available players.”

Rodgers-Cromartie should play right away. Campbell might be more of a project.

Now that the Cardinals have taken Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie as their top draft pick, look for them to go for a running back in Round 2.

If they’re lucky, maybe somebody such as Chris Johnson of East Carolina could fall to them.

Breathing easier right now is incumbent running back Edgerrin James. He will be more likely to be the main running back in the upcoming season than if the Cardinals had taken a back in Round 1.

Each yard is important for “Edge.” By the end of the upcoming season. he should be in the top 10 rushing list of all time.

He’s rushing for the Hall of Fame.

…Can the Cardinals get a top running back?

Maybe this will be their lucky day and Rashard Mendenall will fall to them.

But probably not. He’ll likely go no. 14 to the Bears or No. 15 to the Lions. Then the Cards will have to assess whether Jonathan Stewart and his history of foot problems would pose too big a risk.

Lots of cornerbacks are on the board. The Cards could trade down and still end up with a good one. 

Probably not. Maybe they’ll think about it, but trading up to get a big-time player in today’s NFL draft, maybe a running back — hey they missed a big one last year — just doesn’t seem to be in their nature.

But I sure wouldn’t complain. And I don’t think fans would either.

The Cardinals, to be sure, have indicated they won’t trade up, that — if anything — they’ll trade down.

This is a good year for teams not to be drafting high in Round 1.

 If you do, you can expect to pay out $20 million or more in guarantees for unproven players. That’s why teams seem to be more interested in trading down than up.

This is so because of the lunacy of the NFL’s pay system, which rewards college players for their exploits often more than proven pros.

The NBA took care of a similarly mindless system way back in the 1990s when the Shawn Bradleys of the world were pocketing huge contracts while solid every-day pros made much less money.

The NBA finally figured out that doling out huge contracts just because some scouts and media types projected certain players to be stars (incorrectly, in the case of the lumbering Bradley among many others) made no sense.

The league went to a rookie scale where players have to prove themselves for their first few years before cashing in with a monster contract.

 The NFL, supposedly the leader among big-league sports, should do the same.

The Cardinals plan to host two of the nation’s top running backs in the upcoming days as part of their preparation for the NFL draft.

They are Jonathan Stewart, the 5-11, 235-pounder from Oregon and Chris Johnson,  a 5-11, 195-pounder from East Carolina.

 Stewart has a toe injury that could limit him during training camp. But he’s a big-time player who could go around the time the Cardinals draft: at No. 16 in the first-round.

 Johnson is small-ish, but has outstanding speed. He was considered among the top all-round backs in the nation. He even led the country in all-purpose yardage at 228 per game.

 Stewart and Johnson are among a number of players who either have visited or plan to visit the Cardinals. 

Notes on the Cardinals’ schedule:

– Of the five games played in the East, two are early and back to back (at Washingston on Sept. 21 and at N.Y. Jets on Sept 28).

So the Cardinals are thinking about staying in the East in between games.

These should be fair weather games. That was the case last year for early season games in Baltimore and Washington.

– They play two high-profile, non Sunday games on national TV: They’ll host San Francisco on Monday, Nov. 10 and visit Philadelphia on Thankskgiving night, Nov. 27.

– They host the world champion New York Giants on Nov. 23 and visit runner-up New England on Dec. 21.

– The games most likely to feature cold and/or inclement weather would be the Thanksgiving night game at Philadelphia and the Dec. 21 game at New England.

The Cardinals, of course, play in near perfect weather at home because of the retractable roof, so any poor-weather game can be a challenge.

They played in great weather last year. Only a moderately cold day in Cincinnati and a chilly day in Seattle were exceptions.

– They play three of their first four on the road, but four of their last six (including three of four) at home. 

WATSON HURT

Gabe Watson hurt himself while working out on a treadmill last week. He suffered a fractured knee cap and underwent surgey.

He should be good to go for the start of the season but his availability at the start of training camp isn’t so sure.

The NFL’s decision to get rid of the “force out” was welcome.

Now a receiver or even a defender must come down with two feet in bounds to be deemed in control of the ball.

You may remember that this came up at the end of the Cardinals’ game vs. Cleveland late last season.

As the final seconds were running out, the Browns completed a spectacular pass play that would have won the game, but the receiver didn’t come down in the end zone. He may or may not have been forced out, but the refs didn’t make a call, much to the Cardinals’ relief.

But how can you tell for sure if somebody would have come down in bounds? You have to be clairvoyant. And that’s too much to ask of referees.