NFL arizona Cardinals

We're entering a dark period of the NFL life right now. Nothing is going on. Players and coaches are on vacation. With that we look at 10 quarterback situations worth looking at before training camps start in late July, because, well, it's always about the quarterback.

1. Detroit. Matthew Stafford vs. Daunte Culpepper.

The situation: It's the same old argument. Do you start the rookie or the veteran? The No. 1 pick of the draft is Stafford, but the vet with a chance to win a few games is Culpepper. Stafford is the future but you don't want to damage it. For every Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco there's a Ryan Leaf and Vince Young.

Solution: Start Culpepper and wait until 2010 for Stafford.

Retired NFL quarterback Trent Green is the first-ever guest columnist of MMQB, filling in while Peter King is on vacation. Green provided an interesting read on subjects relating to the league's personal conduct policy, concussions and the expanded season. And of course it wouldn't be a MMQB without a healthy dose of Favre thrown in for good measure.

What jumps out of Green's article is his prediction that 10 quarterbacks will have over 4,000 yards passing this season. He says six are a lock to do it (Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Kurt Warner, Phillip Rivers and Aaron Rodgers), and seven have the potential to do it (Jay Cutler, Matt Cassel, Carson Palmer, Matt Schaub, Donovan McNabb, Tony Romo, Matt Hasselbeck).

Let's put this prediction in context:

When the Cardinals drafted Matt Leinart 10th overall in the 2006 draft, just about everybody thought it was a perfect marriage. Arizona, the perpetual dark-horse candidate, finally had a franchise quarterback; Leinart, who had excelled in a pro-style offense at USC, was experienced beyond his years and it would only be a matter of time before he assumed the full-time job.

It didn't quite work out like that -- Leinart started 11 games as a rookie and held his own, but he only had five starts in 2007, and spent all of last season watching Kurt Warner lead Arizona to the Super Bowl. Part of the problem was that Leinart struggled with the offense, but there were bigger concerns with his maturity.

I don't know. Matt Leinart's new MMA toughness video looks less like a guy who would fit in as a gangsta than a guy who could put on a headband and be in the old Olivia Newton-John "Let's Get Physical'' video. Before, the images of Leinart on the Web showed him in a hot tub with a bunch of young women, or holding a beer bong for another woman. At least that carried some street cred, if that's still the term. Sure, it fit his pretty-boy, party-boy Hollywood image. But in the world of football players and real guys who watch the game, well, a quarterback in a hot tub with young women is not the worst thing.

With NFL teams going though OTAs and minicamps this offseason, we look at 10 young players who can make an impact in 2009. These players have five years or less than NFL experience.

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

In the past few years, NFL quarterback Matt Leinart has been in the spotlight for all kinds of reasons, but not always for his on-field play. In this exclusive video we find out what Matt does when there are no cameras around and why he is considered a hero to some Los Angeles inner-city kids. As it turns out, Leinart -- USC's former Heisman Trophy winner -- owns and operates his own youth football league. In it, 150 kids, who otherwise could not afford to participate in such activities, are provided with equipment, lunch and transportation at no cost. Beyond football, though, Miguel Perez -- who coaches in the Leinart league -- says being part of a sports team can positively change a child's life.

Check out the video after the jump.

The difficult contract negotiations between disgruntled receiver Anquan Boldin and the Arizona Cardinals took an interesting turn Tuesday with the news that Boldin has filed paperwork with the players' union to fire agent Drew Rosenhaus and seek new representation.

It's unclear who Boldin's new agent would be as he seeks a restructured contract or a trade from Arizona. The rules require him to wait at least five days after firing his agent to secure a new one. It's also unclear what this means in terms of where Boldin will play in 2009. Heck, it's not even really clear that he's through with Rosenhaus for good. At least not if you believe Rosenhaus's prolific and popular Twitter page.

If these reports are accurate, it doesn't appear the Arizona Cardinals were able to drum up much serious interest in disgruntled receiver Anquan Boldin in advance of the draft. The Bears apparently offered a second-round pick, and according to Kent Somers in the Arizona Republic, the best the Eagles offered was a third-rounder plus (also) disgruntled cornerback Sheldon Brown.

The Eagles may still be interested, though with first-round pick Jeremy Maclin in the fold they now have more leverage than they did before the draft. And there are still teams (Jets, anyone?) with glaring needs at receiver. But if all the Cardinals have been able to get are the offers mentioned above, it begins to look as if Boldin might not get his wish to be traded out of Arizona before training camps start.

For years we've heard agents say they wouldn't negotiate in the media. So what do we make of an agent negotiating on Twitter? It's likely far too early in human history to say for sure, but it looks like Drew Rosenhaus is giving it a shot to see how it works.

In a post to his Twitter account earlier today, Rosenhaus took issue with and denied reports that his client, disgruntled Arizona Cardinals WR Anquan Boldin, was seeking $10 million or more per year on his new contract:

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Anquan Boldin wants to be traded, and before the NFL draft, the Philadelphia Eagles were interested.

But Eagles coach Andy Reid says that when the Eagles called the Cardinals, they came away from the discussion convinced that Arizona would demand a king's ransom for Boldin (first-, third- and fifth-round draft picks), so they moved on and drafted Missouri wide receiver Jeremy Maclin in the first round. Now they're not interested in acquiring Boldin's services anymore.