On the eve of the beginning of the 2008 football season for most of the league Drew Rosenhaus has taken the opportunity to reiterate that his client, Anquan Boldin would like his employer, the Arizona Cardinals, to trade him.

Despite having three years left on his current deal he wants a new one that would put him among the highest-paid receivers in the league.

Rosenhaus emphasizes that he hopes Boldin is traded by the Oct. 14 trade deadline and adds that Boldin won’t re-sign with the Cardinals. “Essentially that bridge has been blown up,” Rosenhaus told the Arizona Republic. “He’s looking to play as hard as he can for the club, for his teammates, but the sooner he is traded, the better.”

That’s a great message for his teammates to hear as they prepare for San Francisco. “Hey guys, I’ll be out on the field with you, but it’ll be grudgingly. I really don’t want anything to do with this team anymore.”

It’s the second time in a week that Rosenhaus has been in the news obnoxiously pimping his clients. In a video posted on YouTube, he argued earlier in the week that another client, Lito Sheppard, deserves to start for the Philadelphia Eagles.

No question Sheppard is a starting-quality cornerback in the NFL. And Zoneblitz has argued that there could be a trade market for him should the Eagles choose to move. And Rosenhaus has every right to talk up his client.

But he shouldn’t be throwing other players under the bus, which is basically what he did to Sheldon Brown when he made the Sheppard should be starting claim. Rosenhaus isn’t a coach and he isn’t a general manager. He’s an obnoxious agent with a knack for taking negotiations into the media – and for making his clients look like asses … or helping them do so themselves.

Reference the Terrell Owens situation from a few years ago when he was with the Eagles that ultimately ended with Owens being suspended from the team and Rosenhaus answering a Philly scribe’s question about what he has done for Owens other than get him suspended by repeating the phrase “Next question.”

Note also this offseason’s Chad OchoCinco trade demands that really went nowhere.

Or the year that Mike McKenzie, a solid cornerback in Green Bay, wanted out. Rosenhaus orchestrated a deal to New Orleans but villified his client in the process. Or the ongoing saga of Javon Walker, who has whined his way off of two teams now, the first being the second time Rosenhaus stabbed the Packers in the back.

Sure, there are some inequities in the salary system, no doubt. Salaries aren’t guaranteed and teams can cut players virtually at any time. But the fact remains that with upfront signing bonsues these guys are generally paid very, very well for their services to the extent that their plights are not going to be understood by the average person.

Playing the public opinion game rather than handling these situations off camera and behind the scenes has often made his clients look like buffoon. In the case of Boldin, his client has no leverage. If you don’t want to play in Arizona why would you want to force the Cardinals’ hands, thereby reducing any potential return the team could get if they did offer Boldin to someone else in trade?

I like Boldin as a player. I like him a lot. He’s big. He has good hands. He is a fantastic physical speciman. But I don’t like the tactics.

If I were Arizona, much as Cincinnati did this offseason in dealing with Chad Johnson, I’d make clear to the player that he is under contract and that any efforts to publicly undermine the process would result in him simply being stuck on the roster that much longer. Boldin has three years left on his deal – that’s three years the team could make his life a living hell. Why would the player’s agent, if Boldin really, truly does want off the team, incent the team to do just that?