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The Cardinals have apparently demoted Matt Leinart announcing on Thursday that it would be Derek Anderson getting the start in the third preseason game.
We can now confirm the story we posted earlier on Saturday: the Arizona Cardinals have officially released quarterback Matt Leinart.
The Arizona Cardinals announced Saturday that QB Matt Leinart was among the players they released to reach the 53-man roster limit.
The conversation on Leinart's legacy in Arizona is already beginning at our Cardinals blog, Revenge of the Birds. Check it out.
On Saturday, Adam Schefter is reporting that Cardinals quarterback Matt Leinart has been told by the team that he will be released. He tweets:
Filed to ESPN: Cardinals have told Matt Leinart they will release him today. Max Hall will be No. 2 QB.
There was plenty of talk that Cardinals were in talks with multiple teams to deal Leinart, but evidently there wasn't sufficient interest.
Within the context of the last few weeks, this move is not a huge surprise, but it's the latest development in an underwhelming career for Leinart, a college superstar who was drafted with the tenth overall pick by the Cardinals in 2006. Since then, he was bumped down the depth chart as a backup to Kurt Warner. Following Warner's retirement, the team elected to install Derek Anderson as the starting quarterback.
We'll see what sort of job Leinart can find after he's released -- if and when, indeed, he officially is. For more, check in with our Arizona Cardinals blog, Revenge of the Birds.
The Cardinals were reportedly calling teams around the league gauging interest in a potential trade regarding QB Matt Leinart. That hasn't been successful to this point so now the Cardinals have given him and his agent, Tom Condon, permission to seek a trade themselves, according to Len Pasquarelli of The Sports XChange.
Even if Leinart and Co. find a trade partner, the Cardinals need to agree to the terms. Considering recent developments surrounding Leinart, it's hard to see how they wouldn't accept just about anything for him. Part of the reason he's hard to trade is because he has two years remaining on a six-year, $50 million deal signed as a rookie.
A report surfaced this week that three teams -- Raiders, Bills and Giants -- had discussed trading for Leinart.
Each of those teams has denied that report and it's hard to see another team trading for him when it seems possible he'll be cut on Saturday.
Check out Revenge of the Birds for more on Matt Leinart.
On Wednesday morning ESPN's Adam Schefter identified three teams that had talked to the Cardinals about trading for quarterback Matt Leinart. The Cardinals had also reportedly contacted teams about trading Leinart.
Two of those teams -- the Raiders and Bills -- have denied Schefter's report.
Now Jay Glazer of FOXSports.com reports that the Giants aren't interested either. "They are looking for a veteran backup who is perfectly content [with] being [E]li's backup."
Leinart previously said that he wants to start so that would seem to rule out the Giants.
If Tuesday's reports are still accurate, the Cardinals are will continue to look to trade Leinart.
The Bills were one of three teams named by ESPN's Adam Schefter that have talked with the Cardinals about trading for QB Matt Leinart.
Chris Brown from the Bills officiate site says that Schefter's report is inaccurate.
Buffalobills.com has confirmed that the Bills have not had any discussions with the Cardinals in regards to Matt Leinart and aren’t anticipating any in the future. The report is simply not true.
Bills are adamant they are not trading for Matt Leinart, despite discussions they did have this summer with the Cardinals for the QB.
Who has the motivation to lie here? The Bills.
They currently have Trent Edwards as the projected starter and admitting they're in discussions about trading for another quarterback wouldn't help him one bit.
On Tuesday it was reported that the Cardinals had begun calling teams regarding a trade for Matt Leinart. Head coach Ken Whisenhunt had recently demoted Leinart and announced Derek Anderson would be starting the final preseason game on Thursday. Leinart of course wasn't too pleased.
We're now starting to hear of teams that have discussed a potential Leinart trade and none are too surprising. Per ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Bills, Raiders and Giants have had discussions regarding Leinart.
In Buffalo, Trent Edwards is currently the projected starter with Ryan Fitzpatrick and Brian Brohm battling to back him up. As SB Nation's Buffalo Rumblings points out, Leinart is due nearly $13 million in salary and bonuses next year so his contract would be tough to swallow if he weren't the starter.
In Oakland, Jason Campbell is set to be the starter. The Raiders acquired him over the offseason so it's a bit surprising that they're expressing interest. Wait a minute. It's the Raiders. They don't plan things out very well so their interest really isn't surprising.
In New York, the Giants would be looking at Leinart as a backup to Eli Manning. They recently lost Jim Sorgi for the year so they're in need of a veteran backup ahead of Rhett Bomar.
Check out SB Nation Arizona and Revenge of the Birds for more on Leinart.
The Cardinals spent a 2006 first round pick on QB Matt Leinart and it's possible that tenure in Arizona may be coming to an end soon.
This week Leinart was demoted in favor of QB Derek Anderson, who will be Thursday night's starter. Now Jay Glazer of FOXSports.com reports the Cards are actively looking to trade Leinart.
Cards have been contacting teams today shopping qb matt leinart, according to several sources. Unclear what compensation they r looking for
Leinart and Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt reportedly had a meeting recently about his playing time. Leinart says he should be the starter because he outplayed the competition.
Check out SB Nation Arizona and Revenge of the Birds for more on Leinart.
The Cardinals announced on Thursday that QB Matt Leinart would be starting the third preseason game on Saturday night against the Bears.
Speaking to the media on Friday, Leinart was clearly upset about the move.
“It is disappointing and a little bit frustrating,” Leinart said. “I can’t sit up here and say I’m happy and all smiles. It is frustrating. I am not sure the expectation put on me. I have high expectations on myself, and I think, based on my body of work in the preseason, I have been accurate and not turned the ball over."
Leinart, who is 10-of-13 in the preseason, indicated that there isn't a big enough sample size to give QB Derek Anderson the start on Saturday.
"I don't know how you judge performance when you have 13 pass attempts to the other guy's 40."
He told reporters that he still believes he'll be the starting quarterback in week one when the Cardinals play the Rams.
Check out SB Nation Arizona and Revenge of the Birds for more on Leinart.
Arizona Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt announced on Thursday that it would be QB Derek Anderson -- and not QB Matt Leinart -- starting for the Cardinals on Saturday night against the Chicago Bears.
Whisenhunt didn't offer up much of an explanation for the apparent Leinart demotion except to say, "There is thought put into this. We are evaluating not only how Matt handles this but how other players handle it."
It's unclear if this is a permanent move but many are already saying it means Leinart is done in Arizona, while some say Whisenhunt is just trying to spark Leinart. Seth Pollack from SB Nation Arizona doesn't seem to think this means the end of the Leinart era.
He didn't say he was changing the depth chart. He didn't say that Leinart was done in Arizona, which seems to be the general reaction from the hyperbolic NFL talking heads. All he did was say that Leinart and Anderson were going to switch roles from the previous two preseason games.
SB Nation's Revenge of the Birds also seems to think that this doesn't signal the end of Leinart in Arizona and that come week one, Leinart will be the Cardinals starter.
I do think that people are looking into this story too much, we don't even know if Anderson will be the starter in week one or not. Now, if that happens, then this will be a big story. But until then, it is just seeing how the other guy plays when he starts the game with the 1st team. If he struggles, if he plays well, if he is just okay, and thats it. Maybe Anderson is just starting as a way to help him learn the system better. But overall, I think that unless Leinart has a complete meltdown of a game, he will still be the starter in week one against the Rams.
The third game is generally the most important of the four-game preseason schedule. Coaches tend to leave the first team on the field into the third quarter to get as much work as possible. That doesn't exactly scream confidence in Leinart.
There will be more to analyze after Saturday's preseason game against the Bears.
Check out SB Nation Arizona and Revenge of the Birds for more.
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Matt Leinart's Next Stop: Houston Texans
The Cardinals released Matt Leinart, the 2006 tenth overall pick, this week and he wasn't on the market very long.
ESPN's Chris Mortensen reports Leinart agreed to a one-year deal with the Houston Texans on Monday.
Leinart previously said his goal was to be a starter in the league. Apparently he realized that starting is unlikely at this point and accepted a backup role in Houston.
Dan Orlovsky is the backup quarterback for the Texans but has reportedly looked poor in the preseason, which means Leinart has a shot to be the number two.
SB Nation's Battle Red Blog has asked its readers via a poll whether they should sign Leinart and it seems most feel it's worth investigating.
Check out Battle Red Blog for reaction to the Matt Leinart signing.
Sep 06 9:48a by Joel Thorman - 0 comments