Anquan Boldin Traded to the 49ers for a Sixth Round Pick

The Baltimore Ravens agreed to trade receiver Anquan Boldin to the San Francisco 49ers, the team they beat last month in the Super Bowl, sources confirmed to ESPN.

Boldin, who is in Africa on a mission, needs to pass a physical before the trade with San Francisco becomes complete.

There were two big moves yesterday involving some high profile wide receivers heading to playoff contending teams. Percy Harvin is headed to Seattle for a first round pick in the upcoming draft in exchange for one year of his services. Anquan Boldin is headed to his recently vanquished Super Bowl opponent, the San Francisco 49ers, in exchange for a sixth round pick in the upcoming draft.

At a glance this deal makes little sense compared to the Harvin/Seahawks deal. Boldin is coming off of a productive season and a Super Bowl win. Harvin is coming off of a season shortened by injury and some controversial conflicts with his head coach. They both have one year remaining on their existing contracts. It feels like Harvin should have been the player on fire sale and Boldin should be the valuable, reliable veteran. Why does Harvin net the Vikings a 1st rounder and Boldin is only worth a sixth round pick? To get the answer you have to go a little deeper.

The most obvious answer is age. Boldin is still a productive NFL wide receiver, but he's currently 32 and has 10 NFL seasons under his belt. That's a lot of mileage for an wide receiver, where losing a step physically can be amplified significantly on the field. By comparison, Harvin is only 24 and has just 4 NFL seasons under his belt. There's no reason to believe he won't go forward and have many productive years ahead of him. Continuing with this point, the trade with the Seahawks is contingent upon Harvin agreeing to a new contract that is expected to be finalized soon. It's highly likely that this new deal will have Harvin spending his upcoming prime years in Seattle. Boldin's deal feels much more like a 1-year "put us over the top" rental.

Secondly, there's the NFL's salary cap to consider. Boldin is due $6 Million and carries a cap figure of $7.531 Million. This is a pretty significant hit, especially given that the salary cap hasn't increased and many teams are struggling to stay under the cap. I'm having some difficulty finding the exact cap figure that Harvin is making for the last season of this deal, but he's in the final year of his 5-year $14.5 Million rookie contract. We'll have to see the final figures of his new contract with Seattle before we can determine exactly how much of a hit Seattle will take for Harvin, but it will probably be significantly lower than the cap hit the 49ers are absorbing with Boldin.

Even with all of these factors considered I still feel like the Seahawks overpaid for Harvin and the Ravens didn't get enough value for Anquan Boldin, but the disparity isn't quite as bad as it might seem.

Breaking News: Vikings Trade Percy Harvin To Seahawks

The Vikings have traded Percy Harvin to the Seahawks for their first round pick. I like this deal for the Seahawks. He is a hell of an explosive player, and with Lynch as their RB, Wilson as their QB, and now a WR core of Harvin, Rice, and Tate I really like their offense. That on top of that fact they have a hell of a defense, Seattle is going to be a damn tough team going into next year.

As for the Vikings, Harvin wanted out of town and they got a first round pick for him. It could work out well for them, as HArvin gets hurt a lot, and who knows what they will end up with in that pick.

Mike's Thoughts on Percy Harvin

In my continuing series of taking an in depth look at every single free agent/trade bait that comes up as having New England as a potential destination, the latest rumors involve Vikings Wide Receiver Percy Harvin. Here's what you should probably know about Harvin:

1) He played his college ball at Florida under coach Urban Meyer and won two SEC Championships (2006, 2008) and two BCS Championships (2007, 2009). Bill seems to like players that have enjoyed success at the college level as well as players from Urban Meyer's Florida teams like Brandon Spikes, Jermaine Cunningham and Aaron Hernandez.

2) He was selected 22nd overall by the Vikings in the 2009 NFL Draft. The Patriots worked Harvin out before the draft. New England held the 23rd overall pick and after Harvin's selection traded down to 26th and then traded again to get out of the first round entirely. Were the Patriots waiting to see if Harvin was selected before dealing the pick or was this just a coincidence?

3) In his rookie season in 2009 he won numerous Rookie of the Year awards and was selected to the Pro Bowl and was named an All-Pro.

4) He is a slot reciever. With Wes Welker's future up in the air could Harvin be the replacement the Patriots have in mind?

5)He is a dangerous kick returner, racking up 5 TDs from kick returns in his 4 seasons. Bill always values versatility and players that also contribute on special teams.

6) He has off field issues. He tested positive for marijuana at the NFL Combine. He has missed games and practices as a result of migraine headaches. He suffered an ankle injury in November of last season. He was initially expected to return before the end of the season, but eventually was placed on injured reserve in early December. He reportedly had a heated, public argument with head coach Leslie Frazier. Since then rumors have been circulating that Harvin is on the trading block and that the price could be as low as a second or third round pick in the upcoming draft. The Patriots have taken on a number of troubled talents and successfully rehabbed their images and gotten their careers back on track.

7) During his 4 seasons with the Vikings, Harvin has played with 5 starting quarterbacks (Brett Favre, Tavaris Jackson, Joe Webb, Christian Ponder and Donovan McNabb) and two head coaches (Brad Childress, Leslie Frazier). Despite this lack of stability around him, he's managed to put up great numbers every season. His ability to adapt to new systems and still be successful suggests that he could transition well into the Patriots system, unlike other failed projects like Chad Ochocinco.

8) We don't see much of Percy here in New England. He has played in one game against the Patriots in the 2010-11 season where the Vikings lost 28-18. Harvin was excellent in the losing effort with 6 catches on 8 targets for 104 total yards.

This is another deal that makes a lot of sense on paper for the Patriots. I think whether or not this deal happens depends entirely on how negotiations go with Wes Welker. If Welker gets signed to a long term deal getting Harvin makes very little sense for the Patriots as they are largely redundant in their roles. Conversely, if the Patriots let Welker walk Harvin would seem to be an excellent young replacment (Harvin is 24, Welker is 31). If negotiations with Welker go sour again and Harvin is still on the market I think the chances of this deal happening go up dramatically.