Seahawks to give up key draft picks for playmaker Harvin; Boldin heading to 49ers
The Associated Press (2)
Anquan Boldin, left, and Percy Harvin, who are reportedly headed to NFC West rivals San Francisco and Seattle, respectively.
By Dave Campbell and Jon Krawczynski
The Associated Press
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Seahawks' rival acquiring star receiver Boldin from Baltimore
SAN FRANCISCO — The 49ers have acquired Ravens wide receiver Anquan Boldin for a sixth-round pick, Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun reported.
Boldin, 32, who is scheduled to earn a base salary of $6 million in 2013, balked when Baltimore recently asked him to take a pay cut. Given the impasse, the Ravens worked out a deal instead of releasing the 10-year veteran who had 65 catches for 921 yards and four touchdowns in 2012. Boldin had six catches for 104 yards and a touchdown in the Ravens' 34-31 win over the 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII.
According to multiple reports, Boldin will not restructure his contract with San Francisco. The 49ers, presumably, will surrender one of their 2013 draft picks. They were expected to have 15 selections in the draft.
According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the deal is contingent on a physical; Boldin is currently in Africa on a mission.
Niners quarterback Colin Kaepernick appeared on ESPN shortly after the trade was reported: “We need another receiver,” Kaepernick said. “We have great wide receivers already, but he's another great addition. I think everybody saw what he was capable of this past year and what he did in the Super Bowl. So that's just another playmaker on our team.”
The trade came hours after the Seahawks, the 49ers' most formidable challengers in the NFC West, completed a deal for Vikings dynamic wide receiver Percy Harvin.
SAN FRANCISCO — The 49ers have acquired Ravens wide receiver Anquan Boldin for a sixth-round pick, Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun reported.
Boldin, 32, who is scheduled to earn a base salary of $6 million in 2013, balked when Baltimore recently asked him to take a pay cut. Given the impasse, the Ravens worked out a deal instead of releasing the 10-year veteran who had 65 catches for 921 yards and four touchdowns in 2012. Boldin had six catches for 104 yards and a touchdown in the Ravens' 34-31 win over the 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII.
According to multiple reports, Boldin will not restructure his contract with San Francisco. The 49ers, presumably, will surrender one of their 2013 draft picks. They were expected to have 15 selections in the draft.
According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the deal is contingent on a physical; Boldin is currently in Africa on a mission.
Niners quarterback Colin Kaepernick appeared on ESPN shortly after the trade was reported: “We need another receiver,” Kaepernick said. “We have great wide receivers already, but he's another great addition. I think everybody saw what he was capable of this past year and what he did in the Super Bowl. So that's just another playmaker on our team.”
The trade came hours after the Seahawks, the 49ers' most formidable challengers in the NFC West, completed a deal for Vikings dynamic wide receiver Percy Harvin.
Harvin, Minnesota's moody and multitalented young wide receiver, will join the Seahawks for a package of draft picks that includes Seattle's first-round selection next month, No. 25 overall.
A person with knowledge of the deal confirmed the details Monday to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the trade won't be official until the new league year begins today and Harvin passes a physical.
The 24-year-old Harvin will give second-year quarterback Russell Wilson a dynamic playmaker not yet at his peak.
His departure from Minnesota will leave an even bigger void in a group of receivers that was already one of the thinnest in the NFL — and at least one disappointed former teammate in Peterson, the star running back and league MVP.
“The best all-around player I ever seen or you'll ever see! Goes to Seattle! I feel like I just got kicked in the stomach. Several times!!!” Peterson posted on Twitter.
Said columnist Jason Cole on yahoo.com, Harvin wanted two things this offseason: money and a better quarterback.
According to two sources, the straw that broke the Vikings' back with Harvin is when he bemoaned the fact that quarterback Christian Ponder, a 2011 first-round pick, was not good enough. That came even though Ponder consistently fed Harvin the ball.
Last season, Harvin had team highs of 62 catches for 677 yards, and added three touchdowns before suffering a season-ending injury in the Vikings' ninth game.
Now, Harvin goes to Seattle, which has wunderkind quarterback Wilson. Wilson not only pushed Robert Griffin III for Rookie of the Year this season, but also happens to have a lot in common with Harvin.
Both are 24 and grew up in the eastern part of Virginia: Harvin from Virginia Beach and Wilson from Richmond.
Foxsports.com first reported the trade and also said the Seahawks included a seventh-round pick this year and a mid-round selection in 2014 in exchange for Harvin, who was producing at an All-Pro level until badly spraining his left ankle last Nov. 4 in a game at Seattle.
He was placed on injured reserve a month later, abruptly ending a season that began so strongly.
He led the NFL in total yards, including rushing, receiving and returning, at the time of his injury.
The Vikings were in a bind despite general manager Rick Spielman's repeated declaration that the organization had “no intent” to trade Harvin.
Harvin first caused a stir last June 19 when he expressed unspecified dissatisfaction with “some things” about the team.
The next day Harvin asked to be traded, only to quietly rescind the request and show up at training camp as if nothing had happened.
Harvin clarified his feelings a bit after the season started by acknowledging a lack of understanding about his role in offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave's scheme.
The Vikings lined him up all over the field, including as a running back, but to preserve his health they often limited his snaps and turns as a kickoff returner.
Harvin was by far quarterback Ponder's favorite target, but the struggles of the passing attack that increased around midseason did not help Harvin's mood.
He was seen shouting at coach Leslie Frazier on the sideline after one failed possession inside the 20-yard line in the last game he played for the Vikings.
Ponder passed for only 63 yards in that game, a 30-20 loss, but the Vikings rallied behind Peterson's record-setting performances to win their last four games and finish 10-6 for a spot in the playoffs.
The Seahawks, who also signed former Vikings wide receiver Sidney Rice two years ago, now have another valuable piece in their quest to take the NFC title away from San Francisco.
The 49ers were thought, too, to have interest in Harvin.
“He's so good you just have to showcase him, and that's what they're doing,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said in October before the Vikings-Seahawks game.
Carroll, who recruited Harvin out of high school when he was at USC, added: “He's a fantastic player.”
Rice and Golden Tate are the top two returning receivers for the Seahawks, who finished 11-5 and lost in the second round of the playoffs.
In 2009 when Brett Favre came out of retirement to join the Vikings, Rice racked up a career-high 1,312 yards receiving and eight touchdowns.
Harvin had 790 yards and six scores.
Harvin will enter the fifth and final season of his rookie deal with a $2.9 million salary that's well under market value.
The Vikings have a history of giving their core players new contracts before they enter the final years of their current deals, and that obviously didn't happen with Harvin.
As a slot receiver, as exceptional and varied as his skills are, Harvin didn't give them the tall, fast, game-breaking target on the outside that they've been lacking since they got rid of Randy Moss.
The other long-term concern about Harvin is his punishing, hard-nosed running style.
Listed at 5-foot-11 and 185 pounds with a history of debilitating migraine headaches, Harvin could be at more of an injury risk as his career moves on since so many of his yards come after first contact.
For all the toughness he brings to a team, a contrast to Moss, whose effort was sometimes missing, Harvin tries to run through tacklers as often as he tries to dodge them.
Though he missed only three games in 3½ seasons until hurting his ankle, Harvin missed dozens of practices over those years because of the migraines.
The Vikings now have more room under the salary cap to pursue one of the free agents on the market that opens today, with Greg Jennings and Mike Wallace the best available but sure-to-be-expensive options.
Either way, they'll make wide receivers a primary focus of the draft.
Stephen Burton, Greg Childs, Chris Summers and Jarius Wright are the only receivers currently on the roster.
Wright, a rookie last season who replaced Harvin in the slot after the injury, is the only one with more than 73 yards receiving for his career.
Last modified: March 11. 2013 6:28PM
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