Usually it takes more than one day of training camp for the optimism of Cardinals fans to begin to wane. On Thursday though, the typical July “this will be the Cardinals year” turned to the October “here we go again” in a matter of minutes.

Before the team had even put on the pads, full contact drills began when Anquan Boldin dropped the bombshell that he is done with the Cardinals and that he no longer plans to negotiate an extension. Boldin cited the fact that the general manager Rod Graves and the Cardinals promised him a new contract prior to the season but failed to deliver on their promise as the reason for his displeasure.

Most people want to point the finger directly at Anquan Boldin and rightly so. Up until last night, I completely agreed. I felt that that Boldin was off base with his comments and that he had to honor his word, and his signed contract, as much as the Cardinals needed to honor theirs and restructure his deal. After thinking about it a little longer though something else came to mind.

Let me ask you a question…what do Anquan Boldin, Marion Barber, Lance Briggs, Plaxico Burress, Darnell Dockett, Jevon Kearse, Chad Johnson, Willis McGahee, Santana Moss, Terrell Owens, Jeremy Shockey and Kellen Winslow Jr have in common?

If you answered that they all have publicly voiced displeasure with their teams and contracts you’d be right. They share one more common thread as well, Drew Rosenhaus.

The Rosenhaus Effect is what is truly to blame when it comes to the predicament the Cardinals find themselves in.

The Rosenhaus effect is the pattern of hostile negotiation tactics and media attention that his clients tend to rely on to get renegotiated deals. Due to this Rosenhaus’ clients seem to find be the most needy in the NFL. They have more demands than a James Bond villain, and less leverage.

The reason for the Rosenhaus effect is simple. Drew likes to be the center of attention. What other agent gets 10 minutes to talk on SportsCenter or a Burger King commercial? What other agent can you actually quote in everyday sports conversation? (NEXT QUESTION!) For that matter, what other agent would you recognize if you saw him in public?

Rosenhaus’ guerilla negotiation tactics are done deliberately through the media to force franchises hands. As seen in previous Rosenhaus productions “Briggs Bashes Bears” and “TO Takes on Philly”, teams either cave in or trade the disgruntled player to a team willing to give into the contract parameters. This is the exact script he is having Boldin follow. Voice displeasure with your contract and mention it to the media, open negotiations, threaten to not report to camp, blame the team if no deal is done and then force the teams hand.

By no means does this absolve Boldin or the Cardinals organization. Both are in the wrong. What it does do is explain why exactly Boldin thinks with 3 years left on a deal that he can rock the boat. It also explains why a guy who seems to be one of the hardest working players in the NFL could look like such a prima donna right now.

If I was the Cardinals front office, I’d let Boldin wait it out. Giving into him only gives more momentum to The Effect. Do the rest of the NFL a service and make Anquan sweat a little. If he actually continues to complain and be an issue for three years it will kill his value. Who would want a disgruntled 30 year old wide receiver with Rosenhaus for an agent? (Oh yeah, the Dallas Cowboys).

There is a positive from the situation. Thanks to The Rosenhaus Effect the Cardinals have reached a new record at crushing fans hopes. At least it will save me some agony on Sundays.

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