The next pass that 49ers wide receiver Anquan Boldin catches will put him in some pretty good company.
Boldin had 999 catches in his career, which means it shouldn’t be too long before he becomes the 13th player in NFL history and third player this season to reach 1,000 catches. That’s the sort of milestone that comes after a lot of time and a lot of games, which leads to some thought about how much longer Boldin will be playing football.
On Thursday, Boldin didn’t sound like a man who was thinking about when to announce his retirement. Boldin said he feels like he can play for “years to come” and he’ll have some decisions to make about next year. Boldin is set to be a free agent and said that he’d “definitely” like to be back with the 49ers in 2016 even if they aren’t as close to a championship as he might prefer.
“I like it here,” Boldin said, via the team’s website. “I like the people here. The organization has been great to me. I love my teammates. I enjoy them. And I have roots here, a lot of relationships that I’ve built in this community. When we cross that bridge, we’ll cross that bridge. ... No matter what age you are, you want to win a championship. That goes without saying. [But] it’s deeper than that especially when you have been somewhere for a certain amount of years. You have roots.”
The 49ers have plenty to do if they’re going to work themselves into championship contention any time soon and the rebuilding effort might not have room for a 35-year-old wideout. Someone will, though, and Boldin will hit more receiving milestones in one uniform or another.