Rumors are circulating that Anquan Boldin is on the verge of hiring an agent who is very familiar with the Arizona Cardinals, Tom Condon. Condon has always been the name on the top of the list according to most reports and he's certainly a worthy replacement. He's most known for representing the highest rated quarterbacks coming out of the draft and he's as a result he's also Matt Leinart's agent. Condon does have a reputation as a shrewd negotiator and many of his young quarterback clients end up holding out during training camp. Condon and his team also represent Mike Gandy, Kenny Iwebema and Alan Branch.

How his presence in Boldin's ongoing battle with the organzation effects the situation remains to be seen, but the idea that Boldin is ready to kiss and make up might be quite off base. Thoughts?

Disclaimer: At this point, this sounds like a rumor that's being started by a single man but ESPN is running with it so I'll throw it out there. In no way am I am stating that I agree with or support this rumor, if it is in fact true. 

ESPN's Chris Mortensen is suggesting that the Arizona Cardinals are among the top five teams that could bring in Michael Vick. He lists the Patriots, Saints, Steelers, Browns and Cardinals as teams that "make sense." Mort originally listed his five teams on a Sports Centers special (that I can't find video of) and the audio has been replayed several times on ESPN radio, but he's also rehashed his thought process on his Twitter page (the specific comment is here). Of course we all know that Vick might not even be able to play this season and technically he's still under contract with the Falcons (although most expect him to be released at some point).

Michael Vick 

#7 / Quarterback / Arizona Cardinals?

Height: 6-0

Weight: 215

Born: Jun 26, 1980

College: Virginia Tech

I'm sure that we all have varying degrees of hatred or hope (that he get's a second chance), so I'll just ask, would you support Michael Vick becoming an Arizona Cardinal? Also, what role do you think Vick will serve where ever he ends up playing?

More photos » by Matt York - AP

Chris "Beanie" Wells was the Arizona Cardinals first round pick with the 31st overall, but was he their first choice? (AP Photo/Matt York)

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There was a lot of discussion from the media which stated that Donald Brown was the Arizona Cardinals #1 running back on the draft board, but there was no supporting information that we could find. The Cardinals hadn't tipped their hand or said as much and our insider Darren Urban never made comments to show any indication. That led many of us to dismiss the Brown rumor as just more media misinformation that was drummed up as everything does prior to the draft, but perhaps that information was valid.

Ken Whisenhunt was recently on ESPNradio talking about Donald Brown and Beanie Wells. From the clip that, Whiz was very anxious when Donald Brown was taken off of the board, but was happy to see that Beanie Wells was still available.

With the draft in the rear view mirror and the first mini camp completed I know that we don't want to look back at something that we poured so much time and energy into, however, it's interesting to hear Whiz's voice when he says that they were "very anxious" when Brown was taken off of the board.

The link to the complete podcast is here.

I know it doesn't change anything, but would you have been happier if the Cardinals had taken Donald Brown as their number 1 pick?

According to various, unsubstantiated reports (notice this is in the rumor section), the Ravens have made an offer to the Arizona Cardinals for Anquan Boldin. According to John Clayton of ESPN, the offer is the Ravens first round pick and Todd Heap. Heap is a 29 year old tight end who has been a Pro Bowl level tight end when healthy in the past. The Cardinals will likely have to decide if Todd Heap is the player who caught 148 balls for 1,620 yards and 13 TDs between 2005 & 2006 or the guy who caught just 35 passes in 2008. He missed 10 games in 2007 but has played a full season in three of the past four seasons. Heap would immediately become the Cardinals starting tight end but it'll be up to the Cardinals front office to decide if Heap can be productive over the next three seasons. He's under contract until the end of the 2011 season but his cap charges might make the Cadinals think twice ($6.37, $6.67 and $7.37 million respectively). Those cap number might be another reason why the Raves are trying to move the tight end.

There hasn't been any official word from either the Cardianls or Ravens but this is a story that we'll update as soon as more is avaliable.

Before we get started, let me put a disclaimer on this entire story: This is coming from a message board and isn't based on a 'credible' source or on any concrete evidence. Projecting the compensatory picks handed out by the NFL is a difficult task because they do not disclose the formula with which they calculate the picks. That being said here's what this individual is claiming.......

First here's a quick explanation on compensatory picks (from who else, Wiki):

In addition to the 32 picks in each round, there are a total of 32 picks awarded at the ends of Rounds 3 through 7. These picks, known as "compensatory picks," are awarded to teams that have lost more qualifying free agents than they gained the previous year in free agency. Teams that gain and lose the same number of players but lose higher-valued players than they gain also can be awarded a pick, but only in the seventh round, after the other compensatory picks. Compensatory picks cannot be traded, and the placement of the picks is determined by a proprietary formula based on the player's salary, playing time, and postseason honors with his new team, with salary being the primary factor. So, for example, a team that lost a linebacker who signed for $2.5 million per year in free agency might get a sixth-round compensatory pick, while a team that lost a wide receiver who signed for $5 million per year might receive a fourth-round pick........Compensatory picks are awarded each year at the NFL annual meeting which is held at the end of March; typically, about three or four weeks before the draft.

Ok, so in doing some research I came across a message board where a user claims to have a pretty good resume predicting how these picks are distributed (again these are his own claims). Anyways he claims to be exactly right about 75% of the time and off by one round another 12.5% which would put him reasonably accurate about close to 90% of the time over the past eight years (you can read his entire description here). 

His prediction for the Cardinals is especially promising as he projects us to recieve a 3rd round pick for the loss of Calvin Pace and at worst a 4th round. An extra third round pick would be a welcome surprise because it would give them four picks inside the top 100 (or very close to top 100) and it would allow them some flexibility if they want to move up to grab a player using thier orginal third round pick. Either way it's good to hear that the loss of Calvin Pace will be beneficial (at least in a small way) to the Cardinals' future.

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According the Darren Urban and Profootballtalk.com, the Cardinals have signed former San Francisco 49ers safety, Keith Lewis. It is supposedly a 2-year deal with, "a signing bonus and easily-reached incentives." Lewis has spent the last 5 seasons with the 49ers and is somebody we have grown accustomed to. The signing of Lewis is something else we have grown accustomed to...low-key players being signed in free agency. It happened last year and so far, Rod Graves has said it will this year.

Lewis played in 76 games for the 49ers and started 13 of them. If you do the math, that means that out of 80 possible games, Lewis only missed 4. Health wise, he is dependable. Playing wise, he's not the cream of the crop. He is merely going to be a 3rd string safety, especially with the way Aaron Francisco plays. Darren Urban thinks it's interesting with the depth already at safety, but Francisco and Ware have disappointed Cardinals' fans once too many times. If this deal is real, it should be an interesting semi-headline through training camp, to see who gets the 3rd-string safety spot. Lewis is known for being a hard-hitting safety, and for his contributions on special teams.

If you're looking for a break from non-stop Super Bowl coverage, your wish has been granted. Kurt Warner's agent is making some news by getting the free agency fires started early and he's in Chicago floating rumors that his client is ready test the free agent waters. The Bears are certainly a team that's in the market for a quaterback and their GM admits that they've discussed (internally of course b/c they can't talk to Warner or his agent yet) bringing in Waner "a couple of times." At the same time, Warner still won't even commit to playing next season when he was asked this week about retirement.

I don't have any idea what Warner's plans are next year, but I'd be willing to bet a fortune (or at least all the money I have which isn't much considering the current diaper budget in the Hawk household) that he won't be playing in Chicago. Can anyone imagine him playing in a cold weather city where he'll have to play in the snow for the second half of the season? Not only is that idea a stretch, but I also can't see him going to a team that's built to run the ball and play defense? Not to mention I have a real hard time believing he'd trade in Fitz, Boldin and Breaston for Devin Hester, Rashied Davis and Brandon Lloyd.

Adam Schefter of the NFL Network is reporting that Larry Fitzgerald has stated that he'd be willing to restructure his contract so that the Arizona Cardinals give Anquan Boldin a new contract. Fitzgerald signed a 4 year, $40 million dollar deal this offseason, in an effort to help the Cardinals out of a cap-crunch and it sounds like he's ready to do it again. Hopefully Fitzgerald's willingness to take less money and be a team player will rub off on Boldin and he'll accept slightly less than market value.

There isn't a single quote from Fitzgerald in the story and no one else has picked it up yet. I'm assuming that he was asked this during media day,  but we'll keep an eye to see if any other outlets report the same thing.

Update: Darren Urban has posted his thoughts on the subject and even though he didn't hear it, he's assuming that it's true (I'm sure there video out there some where). It did sound like Urban was trying to downplay the comments though by saying.....

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