I didn’t believe the person who first told me that Anquan Boldin had been traded to the Ravens. At the time, nobody was sure what the Cardinals were getting in return, and so when I heard a co-worker of mine yell over to me that he thought he had seen the news flash on the TV that Boldin had been traded to Baltimore, I wasn’t sure whether to take him seriously or not. He couldn’t tell me the details of the trade or what Baltimore had to give up for him. Also, he is a Steelers fan.

Five minutes later, I saw the breaking news for myself. I may or may not have cheered loudly enough in the middle of a crowded public setting to scare a few children and have everybody turn around to stare at me.

Although the news of the trade was brought to me first by a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, there is no way I am going to let that ruin what is definitely the biggest off season trade acquisition in Ravens’ history. By signing Boldin, Baltimore has vastly improved a wide receiving corp that the front office was very public about upgrading.

Boldin, who was looking for a way out of Arizona for the past two years, got his wish. For a 3rd and 4th round draft pick, the Ravens convinced the Cardinals that letting their troubled wide receiver go was the right move to make. He is a tough, physical athlete who digs down hard to pull out plays in order to help the good of the team. He wants to be the best, and brings a strong mentality that Ravens’ fans are awfully familiar with when it comes to leaders on this team.

The guy is a force to be reckoned with. Even though pain and injury last season, Boldin was able to haul in over 1,000 yards receiving. He has broken the 1,000 yard plane five of his seven seasons in the NFL, and has been named a Pro Bowler three times. He knows what it takes to win; He helped take his team to the Super Bowl in 2009.

With the trade, the Ravens signed Anquan to a new contract, something that he had been asking for if he were to be traded out of Arizona. Baltimore signed him to a four year deal worth $28 million dollars, $10 million of which are guaranteed. For a guy that holds several records in Cardinals’ history, I can’t help but say that the deal isn’t too shabby at all.

So the question is, is Anquan happy with the move? After all, he is the one that wanted out of the desert. Here’s what he said.

“I’m definitely excited. For me, I’ve been hoping for this for a year since I first heard that the Ravens might be interested in me. The Ravens play a certain way. They play as hard and as physical as any team in the league, and I want to add to that. I think I play the way they play.”

Regardless of whether or not he would have said that about any team he was traded to, it’s nice to see that Boldin is excited to come to Baltimore. He obviously has an idea of what it takes to play for this franchise, and he is going to fit the model perfectly. He makes catches and earns yards afterward. He will leave everything on the field and will make Joe Flacco a better quarterback because of it. He will provide an answer to Chad Ochocinco and Hines Ward, except that at this point in the careers of all three players, Boldin would be my top choice. There is not much else you could ask for from this guy.

Now, there is just one problem. How can we make football season get here faster?