Boldin: I want out of Arizona

FLAGSTAFF - Anquan Boldin, unhappy with his contract and suggesting his relationship with coach Ken Whisenhunt is badly strained, wants out of Arizona.

Bordow: Boldins rant tarnishes reputation

“At the beginning of camp, I hadn’t asked for a trade. But ... recently we did,” the Cardinals’ star receiver said Tuesday afternoon, referring to his high-powered agent, Drew Rosenhaus.

“My whole thing is if I’m not going be treated fairly and my hard work and loyalty isn’t going to be rewarded here, then let me go somewhere where it will be rewarded.

“That’s how I feel, and I’ll continue to feel that way.”

Boldin has three years left on a five-year, $22 million contract. He wants a new deal and has said the Cardinals promised him one. The team negotiated with Rosenhaus during the offseason but the two sides haven’t been able to agree on terms.

“The Cardinals have extended his contract once, tried to do it again,” Whisenhunt said. “Our intent is to do it again ... the first chance we get.

“Nothing has changed about that.”

After Tuesday’s practice, Boldin criticized Whisenhunt for joining the contract talks.

“That’s where it became a problem. ... I think it should be completely separated,” Boldin said, referring to the coaching and negotiating roles. “I think that’s why we have a department that deals with that.”

In an interview with NFL Network, Boldin went even further, saying, “At this point we have no relationship, and I don’t see that changing.”

Whisenhunt responded by saying that he talked football, not contract matters, with Boldin on Monday.

“If communication is talking, that’s what we’ve been doing at practice,” Whisenhunt said. “As we go forward, I don’t foresee anything changing. If it does, that’s certainly in his court.”

Rosenhaus requested a meeting, Whisenhunt said, and the coach joined Cardinals president Michael Bidwill and general manager Rod Graves. Rosenhaus and Graves could not be reached for comment.

Rosenhaus had asked for a trade in the spring, according to the Cardinals. But Boldin, speaking at a minicamp in May, said he wanted to stay.

At the start of training camp, Boldin blasted the Cardinals’ management for not giving him a new contract.

He was noncommittal on a trade, but said he wanted no more negotiations, that he planned to play out his deal and leave.

Boldin told NFL Network Monday: “It all goes back to last year, even before camp. I sat in on a meeting with Whisenhunt and the (team owners) Bidwills, and their exact words were they wouldn’t let me go into this season without a new deal. Well, here we are a year later and still no new deal.

“The deals they put on the table were slaps in the face as opposed to deals that would take care of me.

“For me, it’s an uncomfortable situation. I feel lied to by the organization. It’s hard for them to ask me to give my all when it hasn’t been reciprocated.”

Boldin said Tuesday he’s not worried that his hard-working, good-guy image has been tarnished.

“Anybody who knows me knows what kind of guy I am,” said Boldin, who practiced with the team Tuesday afternoon and looked sharp. “They know I’m a hard worker. I’m a guy who does the right thing on and off the field.

“I’m not worried about my reputation being tarnished for me telling the truth.”

Whisenhunt said the Cardinals are still counting on the receiver.

“We’re excited about our football team and the progress we’re making. And we’re looking forward to the season.

“There are a lot of guys who are counting on Anquan because he’s a good football player. So nothing has changed as far as that goes.”