Despite the great wailing and gnashing of teeth from across Eagles Nation in the wake of Curtis' sports-hernia surgery, which took place as scheduled yesterday, the Arizona Cardinals still seem to persist in thinking they need Boldin on their team. They would seem to have him under contract for 3 more years.
I could be wrong about this, but I really don't think we can just, like, force them to hand the guy over, because we haven't seen a championship parade since 1983, and we are more PASSIONATE than their fans. Although, it's probably time to start the countdown until WIP buses a charter full of people with painted faces out to Tempe, to lay siege to the Cardinals' offices. (With signs reading: "CARDS HOLDIN OUR BOLDIN," and "OUR DON NEEDS ANQUAN!")
I would think the Eagles almost certainly have made a call, despite the Cards' stated and restated position that they aren't trading Boldin, a Drew Rosenhaus client who wants a new deal (imagine that?). But if Arizona wanted to trade Boldin for another disgruntled Rosenhaus client, Lito Sheppard, that would have happened long before now. If the Cards were interested in trading Boldin for Sheppard and a first-round draft pick, that would have happened by now, as well.
I think, for the time being, we have to assume Boldin isn't coming, although it does add spice to the situation when you consider that former Eagles personnel VP Jason Licht now has a similar job with the Cards. There probably are guys on the Birds' roster who Licht covets. That would mean more if Licht were actually the general manager.
I think we also have to assume that though the Eagles probably will be checking in with Detroit and Cincinnati to make really, really sure Roy Williams and Chad Johnson remain unavailable, there is no hint that anything has changed there. The Birds might pick up some sort of body from somewhere - a guy who has played in a West Coast offense, and isn't terrible - but this will be mainly to stop the spotlight from shining too brightly on DeSean Jackson before he's ready.
I've seen on message boards that some fans just assume the Eagles will be able to scare up a Dontè Stallworth-level wideout, because they did it 2 years ago. That was a unique situation - Marques Colston came out of nowhere (or Hofstra, same thing) and suddenly made Stallworth expendable to the Saints. I'm not aware of a similar situation unfolding anywhere this year.
I think I might have an old number for Freddie Mitchell, if anyone needs it. The stage could be set for the dramatic return of Bill Sampy. I'm pretty sure Todd Pinkston is available. You know, Reno Mahe was a wideout in college.
An external move that will have a big impact is unlikely. What is likely is that the Eagles will reshuffle their deck a little. Ever since running back Booker arrived in a draft-day deal with Miami, the intent has been to flank him out wide some, often with Brian Westbrook in the backfield. I think you could see Booker turn into a quasi-wideout, especially until Reggie Brown's hamstring is 100 percent again. Obviously, Westbrook remains a prime target - he caught more passes than Curtis last season, 90 to 77, albeit for fewer yards. And we might actually see if Hank Baskett can do something besides block, starting tonight with the preseason game at New England.
No question, being without Curtis, probably well into October, makes the Eagles thinner at one of their thinnest spots. Even so, fan reaction has been over the top; the only way to explain it is that wide receiver was a longstanding sore point with the fan base anyway, and Curtis going down was like somebody pressing on that sore point, really hard. With a rock.
But really. You look on some message boards, the way exclamation points and tears are flowing, you'd think preteen girls were texting one another about an injury to Hannah Montana. Curiously, some of the same people who previously thought the Eagles HAD TO MAKE A MOVE FOR A WIDEOUT!!!!! because Curtis was no good now think the Eagles HAVE TO MAKE A MOVE FOR A WIDEOUT!!!!! because he's injured. Think about that for a while.
Yeah, Curtis being hurt very well could make a difference, especially if, like many sports-hernia victims, he never really gets right all season long. But it's hard to say the playoff quest ended when he went under the knife, or anything. The way I see it, there are two potential injuries that would change everything. Westbrook gets hurt seriously, and the season really is over. Donovan McNabb gets hurt seriously, the season is over, and so is an era.
Anything short of that, well, as Andy Reid likes to say, we'll see. Yeah, you could probably rank serious injuries to Trent Cole or Tra Thomas right behind something happening to McNabb or Westbrook. But a wideout going down, on a team that everybody knows doesn't have a superstar wideout? Probably not time yet to tear up your tickets and join a monastery.
It's a long season that hasn't even started yet. Injuries are part of it, for everybody. Out in San Diego, where the team absolutely has Super Bowl talent, a lot is hanging on linebacker Shawne Merriman's trip to get his sore knee looked at by Dr. James Andrews.
Meanwhile, on the Eagles' main message board, the Anquan Boldin thread was 76 pages long by late afternoon yesterday.
Though the Patriots haven't said whether Tom Brady will play tonight, he did practice Wednesday despite that foot problem . . . Andy Reid has said he expects his starters to play about three quarters . . . A Lito Sheppard quote yesterday, "I don't want fans to get on him for my situation," was incorrectly framed in the Daily News to refer to agent Drew Rosenhaus. Sheppard actually was referring to Asante Samuel. *
Send e-mail to bowenl@phillynews.com
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