BALTIMORE BOOTS BOLDIN TO 49ERS
The San Francisco 49ers acquired wide receiver Anquan Boldin from the Baltimore Ravens for a sixth-round draft pick in 2013.
What does it give the San Francisco 49ers
With San Fran moving on from veteran wideout {P Randy Moss}, they need a new veteran star wide receiver to take pressure off young QB {P Colin Kaepernick} and top young wideout {P Michael Crabtree}. Enter Boldin, who showed in the playoffs he can still be a clutch star when it matters. He is also an above-average big receiver who can pile up receptions, so this is a perfect match for San Francisco. His salary (roughly $6 million in 2013) is a bit steep, but Boldin may ironically be the final championship puzzle piece for the Niners.
What does it give the Baltimore Ravens
It was widely known that the Ravens wanted Boldin to take a pay cut for 2013, and he didn't want to oblige. It's understandable that they moved him to prevent team friction, but the offense takes a clear step backward with this move. Young wideouts {P Jacoby Jones} and {P Torrey Smith} can both probably step up and handle more targets (as can emerging tight end {P Dennis Pitta}) but Boldin was the steady veteran presence who made {P Joe Flacco} look good the most often in 2012. The sixth-round pick isn't likely to yield a regular player, so this is mostly just a cash dump.
Fantasy impact
Boldin may see a slight dip in fantasy production going forward (since Kaepernick runs a lot more than Flacco), and his presence also likely downgrades the fantasy forecast for tight end {P Vernon Davis} (since some of his outlet passes may now go to Boldin). That said, Crabtree and Kaepernick should both benefit from Boldin's arrival, fantasy-wise. In Baltimore the trade helps Jones and Smith the most (and Pitta a little), but it probably significantly hurts Flacco (whose massive contract extension likely set him up for a drop-off even before losing his top target here).
