FanHouse AnquanBoldin

When the Steelers drafted Santonio Holmes three years ago, he was arrested twice before training camp. An inauspicious start for a player new to an organization with a history of avoiding guys with "character concerns."

Now, almost five months removed from his Super Bowl MVP performance (and, for the record, eight months removed from his last arrest, although the charges were later dropped), Holmes seems more focused than ever on his day job. Maybe he has matured, or maybe Hines Ward has rubbed off on him. Or maybe both, given his current physical state.

I can understand why a room full of grown men might not respond well to daily dressing downs, particularly from a new head coach not much older than than they are. But that's the situation in Kansas City.

Herm Edwards got his walking papers after a 2-14 effort last season, which, inexplicably, was only half as many games as he won the year before. Scott Pioli, who replaced Carl Peterson as the team president and general manager, hired former Cardinals offensive coordinator Todd Haley to help turn things around.

The Chiefs got right to work on the rebuilding: they sent a second-round pick to the Patriots for Matt Cassel, giving them a franchise quarterback and somebody for Haley, whose success in Arizona landed him this gig, to build the team around.

The difficult contract negotiations between disgruntled receiver Anquan Boldin and the Arizona Cardinals took an interesting turn Tuesday with the news that Boldin has filed paperwork with the players' union to fire agent Drew Rosenhaus and seek new representation.

It's unclear who Boldin's new agent would be as he seeks a restructured contract or a trade from Arizona. The rules require him to wait at least five days after firing his agent to secure a new one. It's also unclear what this means in terms of where Boldin will play in 2009. Heck, it's not even really clear that he's through with Rosenhaus for good. At least not if you believe Rosenhaus's prolific and popular Twitter page.

Will Brinson kicked it at The OC for the Nike Global Training Summit.

Larry Fitzgerald vaulted himself to the top of everyone's wide receiver rankings with a ridiculous close to 2008, as well as an otherworldly playoff run that ultimately resulted in a trip to the Super Bowl.

Things have been a little different this year, though -- Fitzgerald is dealing with Anquan Boldin's possible holdout and -- as a native Minnesotan and lifelong Vikings fan -- the emotions of possibly having Brett Favre wear Minnesota Vikings colors.

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Sure, it may be a little early for most normal people to start thinking fantasy football draft, but for us derelict diehards, keeping abreast on the developments of the offseason can provide peace of mind and an advantage in watching things progress as we head into the summer. While the news coming out of the NFL these days is far overshadowed by two wildly entertaining playoff series, there are some pretty critical players to keep an eye on.

A small handful of elite fantasy stars are in the midst of a serious value conundrum. On one hand, they provide an opportunity to nab otherwise surefire first-rounders on the cheap, but not without taking on big-time risk. It is question of "how far do we let them drop before it is critical to pull the trigger?"

If these reports are accurate, it doesn't appear the Arizona Cardinals were able to drum up much serious interest in disgruntled receiver Anquan Boldin in advance of the draft. The Bears apparently offered a second-round pick, and according to Kent Somers in the Arizona Republic, the best the Eagles offered was a third-rounder plus (also) disgruntled cornerback Sheldon Brown.

The Eagles may still be interested, though with first-round pick Jeremy Maclin in the fold they now have more leverage than they did before the draft. And there are still teams (Jets, anyone?) with glaring needs at receiver. But if all the Cardinals have been able to get are the offers mentioned above, it begins to look as if Boldin might not get his wish to be traded out of Arizona before training camps start.

For years we've heard agents say they wouldn't negotiate in the media. So what do we make of an agent negotiating on Twitter? It's likely far too early in human history to say for sure, but it looks like Drew Rosenhaus is giving it a shot to see how it works.

In a post to his Twitter account earlier today, Rosenhaus took issue with and denied reports that his client, disgruntled Arizona Cardinals WR Anquan Boldin, was seeking $10 million or more per year on his new contract:

After the Bears landed Jay Cutler in early April, the focus of many fans and media alike shifted to the receiving corps. Devin Hester, Rashied Davis and Earl Bennett will need some help, and no one can doubt that. Since then, the Bears have seen Torry Holt sign with the Jags, not traded for Anquan Boldin -- probably because they don't have enough to offer -- and drafted three second-day wide receivers.

Over the course of the past week, the Chicago Tribune has conducted interviews with the three respective quarterbacks of the three drafted wideouts. As can be expected, those interviews unearthed rave reviews.

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Anquan Boldin wants to be traded, and before the NFL draft, the Philadelphia Eagles were interested.

But Eagles coach Andy Reid says that when the Eagles called the Cardinals, they came away from the discussion convinced that Arizona would demand a king's ransom for Boldin (first-, third- and fifth-round draft picks), so they moved on and drafted Missouri wide receiver Jeremy Maclin in the first round. Now they're not interested in acquiring Boldin's services anymore.

According to XTRA Radio in Phoenix, Arizona defensive tackle Darnell Dockett has requested a trade.

Dockett has three years and $11.25 million left in base salaries on his contract.

"It's not something I want to comment on right now," Dockett's agent Drew Rosenhaus told FanHouse Monday night. Rosenhaus said the report didn't originate from him or his client.

Dockett is one of the best players at his position in the game. He's played in 79 of 80 games since he came into the league in 2004 and he registered 55 total tackles, four sacks and 13 quarterback hits last season.