Even though Kurt Warner just signed a two-year deal to stay in Arizona, Matt Leinart is still a play away, as they say. Except that if you believe the other Cardinals backup, Brian St. Pierre, who told his hometown paper that head coach Ken Whisenhunt promised him the opportunity to win the backup gig. On its face, it sounds preposterous. Leinart was the team's 2006 first-round pick; St. Pierre was drafted by the Steelers as a late-round afterthought and spent the first few years of his NFL career toiling away on the practice squad.
Yet here we are. At least to hear St. Pierre tell it.
"(Cardinals head coach) Ken Whisenhunt phoned me (last) Thursday. I was at the Bruins' game with my brother Andy, my brother-in-law Anthony and (old Prep teammate) Zach Magliaro. Ken had expressed a strong desire for me to return to Arizona, and we got it done between periods between text messages and phone calls," St. Pierre said. "It all went down." ...Even if the Cardinals hadn't tried to re-sign St. Pierre, new Chiefs head coach (and former Arizona offensive coordinator) Todd Haley wanted to bring him to Kansas City. I point this out because nobody is beating down Leinart's door -- either as a starter or a backup -- which makes me think that Whisenhunt will give St. Pierre a legit shot at the No. 2 job.
"I got a raise and (Whisenhunt) said he'd let me compete with Matt Leinart for the No. 2 job," he said. "I trust the coach. I've enjoyed him, and my wife Joceyln (of Beverly) and I both love Arizona. It's he best decision we could have made."
Barring a complete meltdown, I fully expect Leinart to win out, but if he doesn't, that'll pretty much end his Arizona career even though it never really got started.
And as long as I'm wildly speculating about such things, here's a thought: let's assume Whisenhunt doesn't think Leinart's the team's quarterback of the future (which doesn't seem likely given the club was so nonchalant about re-upping Warner -- but for the sake of discussion, let's pretend that's the case), is there any chance they draft Mark Sanchez if he's still on the board late in the first round?
Probably not. But at some point soon the team is going to have to decide on a quarterback for the long term. Or maybe they already have one ... in St. Pierre. Hey, who had Matt Cassel as an NFL starting quarterback 12 months ago? Exactly.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-05-2009 @ 9:10PM
HardHat said...
Good article, Ryan.
And this upcoming competition for the #2 job between St. Pierre and Leinart doesn't surprise me one bit.
Last season, while Warner was re-writing the Cardinal QB record book, Brian St. Pierre was very involved on the sidelines... It looked like he was very much the student of Warner, Haley, and Whisenhunt.
Leinart, on the other hand, was detached and uninvolved at best, and openly pouted at times. Of course, that was a preposterous reaction, given how badly Warner has outplayed him for the past 2 seasons.
Leinart's most noticeable pouting occurred during the Miami game when Warner pitched a perfect passer rating.
I also wonder whether Leinart's uninvolvement is a 2-way street... in other words, did Warner and Haley not want Leinart anywhere near their sideline strategy sessions?
Only time will tell, but I think all signs point to Leinart being dumped sometime in the next season or two, with St. Pierre becoming the heir apparent after Warner retires.
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3-06-2009 @ 12:33PM
A. J. said...
At first I laughed at the notion of St Peirre being the #2 QB since he sat on the sidelines in Pittsburgh for so long but I recall back in 2004 when Tommy Maddox went down and they threw in a guy by the name of Ben Roethlis-who and the rest is history. You never can tell in the NFL who the next big thing is going to be. Good luck to Brian for getting the shot. It's more than we gave him in the burgh.
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3-06-2009 @ 6:02PM
josephrogerssr said...
Does anyone know how much Kurt Warner is making on this 2 year deal??
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3-06-2009 @ 6:46PM
xseasickx said...
Except that Big Ben was the 11th pick in the 1st round of the draft...not exactly a wildcard there.
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3-07-2009 @ 3:32PM
Bob said...
To josephrogerssr, the way I read it is $23 million, with $15m as his signing bonus up front, and a $4m salary each year.
As far as St. Pierre's potential--hey, Kurt Warner was a nobody (in the NFL) walking the sidelines until he got his shot, and look what he did. Tom Brady. Ben Roethlisburger. Who knows what potential is hiding in the man?
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