Cards Release Matt Leinart

Added on Sep 04, 2010 by Jason Kearney in

NFL

NFL teams have to cut their rosters down to the 53 man limit today, and the Arizona Cardinals took this opportunity to jettison quarterback Matt Leinart. The team released Leinart, who now becomes a free agent. There were various trade scenario rumors throughout the preseason, but nothing came to fruition. Former BYU signal caller Max Hall becomes Arizona’s backup quarterback behind Derek Anderson.

The latest development in Leinart’s career represents a stunning reversal of fortune for the USC product. Leinart led the Trojans to a pair of national championships and three title game appearances. He was selected by Arizona in the 2006 NFL Draft, and the Cards thought they’d been the recipients of a gift when Leinart fell to the 10th overall pick. Leinart beame the starting QB in his rookie season, but suffered a broken collarbone early in the 2007 NFL campaign. Veteran Kurt Warner took over, and revived the team as he recaptured the All Pro form from his days with the St. Louis Rams. After recovering from his injury, Leinart started only one game when Warner was sidelined.

With Warner’s retirement, all expectations were that he’d take over the starting job this season. Instead, the team signed free agent Derek Anderson and what was supposed to be a battle for the starting spot in the preseason quicly became a rout. Anderson became the de facto starter almost immediately, and Leinart’s relationship with coach Ken Whisenhunt soured to the point where it was beyond repair. Whisenhunt had a lot to say about the Leinart release on Saturday:

“In fairness to Matt, I think that it would be a tough position for him to be in a backup role. Maybe a fresh start for him is what would be a good thing, for all of us.”

“Do I feel like we didn’t put him in a position to be successful?” Whisenhunt said. “I think that is open to debate. It has obviously been talked about a lot. I think that with every player on our team we are trying to give him the opportunity to succeed. I think we have always tried to be fair.”

“The one thing I want to make very clear is how professional Matt was about the whole situation. I was very impressed with his conversation with me. He thanked the organization, the ownership, for all the time and effort that they had invested in him. He felt like he had gotten better and he had learned a lot and it meant a lot to me to hear him say that.”

“This process was not about what some people said, two weeks into training camp or two preseason games. It’s a complete body of work over a period of time. I will say like I have said before, Matt made tremendous progress. I was excited about what he had done, the work he had put in. I do believe that he is a better quarterback now than he was when I got here four years ago. It is not a slight on Matt, it was a decision that I felt gave us the best chance to win.”

Although Whisenhunt was complementary about Leinart’s professionalism throughout the situation, he then impugned his leadership ability by exclusion when the subject turned to starting QB Anderson:

“A lot of it is how his teammates respond to him and the confidence they have in him when he goes into the huddle. When he came out the other night and completed his first two passes on big plays, the guys rallied around him and that is what you like to see.”

At this point, Leinart’s next move is unclear though the week before the season begins isn’t the best time to be out of work in the NFL. On the other hand, he’d be a good option for teams that suffer a quarterback injury early on.