Leinart Given Permission to Seek Trade

Len Psquarelli of The Sports Exchange reports the Arizona Cardinals have granted permission for quarterback Matt Leinart to seek a trade partner.

The Cardinals were reportedly attempting to do the same, contacting the New York Giants earlier this week.

The 10th overall pick of the 2006 NFL Draft out of USC, Leinart has started 17 games over the last four seasons, completing 57.1% of his 595 pass attempts for 3,893 yards, with 14 touchdowns and 20 interceptions, compiling a 70.8 passer rating. Most of Leinart's game action occurred during the 2006 and 2007 seasons before giving way to Kurt Warner.

Leinart has apparently lost his training camp competition for the starting job to Derek Anderson, who was signed to a two-year, $7.25 million contract in March. In addition to Anderson, the Cardinals were interested in acquiring Charlie Whitehurst from the San Diego Chargers, used a sixth-round pick on promising Fordham quarterback John Skelton, and made a strong push to sign BYU quarterback Max Hall as an undrafted free agent.

Since his demotion, which was never announced as official, Leinart has sulked and reportedly wants to be moved to a team where he can be the starter. With the regular season 10 days away, there doesn't appear to be very few NFL options for that to happen.

NFL teams are also balking at Leinart's contract, which will pay him $2.485 million in 2010, and $12.86 million in total compensation ($5.5M roster bonus, $7.86M salary) in 2011.

0 points
 

Log in to comment and more!

Not a member yet? Join free.

If you have already commented on Cheesehead TV in the past, we've created an account for you. Just verify your email, set a password and you're golden.