Leinart Signs

[Killericon]

Per ESPN.

ESPNEWS HEADLINES
BREAKING NEWS
Leinart, Cards agree on six-year deal
The Arizona Cardinals and Matt Leinart have reached an agreement in principle on a six-year contract, ESPN's Chris Mortensen is reporting. According to sources, the contract could be worth up to $50.8 million if all incentives are reached. The deal calls for $14 million in guaranteed money.

[Ray Finkle]

he is still shi**y

[Killericon]

he is still shi**y

Agreed.

[Bronco_Beerslug]

he is still shi**y
As compared to ...?

[Killericon]

As compared to ...?

Jay Cutler, duh.

[GonzoLays]

Wasn't he a jerk just ten minutes ago?

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Jay Cutler, duh.

I never thought he had the same tools as Cutler but I'll be interested to see how well he plays.

[GonzoLays]

Matt Leinart holds out for two weeks; sets NFL precedent. Next on Outside the Lines.

Bill Bidwell: "I have never in my 30 years of being associated with this game witnessed a player holding for a contract in training camp. Never! And two weeks! Two weeks! This guy has some kind of nerve."

[Jesterhole]

I got the same feeling from him a lot of people did. He doesn't love football...but it's fun and cool and gets him things he likes, so he goes along with it.

That will work in High Scool and USC, where you are surrounded by the most talent in the country.

But in the NFL? Never.

[Ray Finkle]

As compared to ...?


most QB's in the league....I agree with Socal (just don't tell him) and his views on turd boy.

[freak6]

Good for him. Granted his agent got him his NFL money, but I wonder if he lost any marketing potential for his client.

[Circle Orange]

Can you imagine what Elway or Marino would command in this bloated NFL market?

[watermock]

His agent finally wised up. Green was totally fed up with him. It shouldn't of been that hard with Cutler one pick behind him. I truely also question his commitment and talent to overcome inferior teammates like Cutler did at Vandy. Leinart's value was going to start quickly eroding if this didn't get done at this point. I don't think he has the arm strength, desire and drive that Cutler obviously posesses. Jay might of left a couple million on the table, but he's going to be a very rich young man.

[The Moops]

Would you sign right away to play for Bidwell? He's been the worst owner in the league for years. Mike Brown laughs at him.

Leinart just wanted to get a few ducats more from a notorious cheapskate. Plus, he probably had a few LA parties to attend . . .

[bpc]

Damn... All it took was a tirade from Dennis Green. Funny.

Leinart will have too many weapons to not be successful. I wouldn't be surprised if he is injury prone though considering how many times he got nicked up on college. I still think that Young and Cutler will be better.

[Kaylore]

I was hoping he'd miss the whole preseason so Cutler and Young would be lightyears ahead of him. I bet he got jealous watching them get pimped on SportsCenter these last few days.

[baja]

I was hoping he'd miss the whole preseason so Cutler and Young would be lightyears ahead of him. I bet he got jealous watching them get pimped on SportsCenter these last few days.

I'll bet you are right about that!

[Vegas_Bronco]

Can you imagine what Elway or Marino would command in this bloated NFL market?

/see Payaton Manning.

[ludo21]

YESS!!!

Now the Cutler v. Lienart battle might happen afterall on Aug 31.

Thats if Cutler isnt already off the field and Lienart dont play till the 4th that is.......

[Rock Chalk]

/see Payaton Manning.
****, see A-Rod in baseball. Thats what Elway or Marino would be worth in today's market.

[wabbit]

I watched Denny Green melt down on Sportscenter discussing Leinarts' hold-out. His face reddened & his gut rippled like jello...I thought I was watching an early preview of some kind of ethnic Christmas thing (dressed in red...oh, never mind).

Lotsa fence mending needed here, but I do believe this kid will be a terrific QB for the Cards.

I mean, c'mon...you think there's a 'start Cutler now' outcry here...imagine the howl after Kurt lets loose with a few of his patented Warner flutterballs.

I bet every one of the 12 Arizona Cardinal season ticket holders will be really angry if Warner starts the entire season.

[ward63]

Still pumped we got the best QB in the draft!

[watermock]

I watched Denny Green melt down on Sportscenter discussing Leinarts' hold-out. His face reddened & his gut rippled like jello...I thought I was watching an early preview of some kind of ethnic Christmas thing (dressed in red...oh, never mind).

Lotsa fence mending needed here, but I do believe this kid will be a terrific QB for the Cards.

I mean, c'mon...you think there's a 'start Cutler now' outcry here...imagine the howl after Kurt lets loose with a few of his patented Warner flutterballs.

I bet every one of the 12 Arizona Cardinal season ticket holders will be really angry if Warner starts the entire season.

Denny G. (Rhymes with Kenny G.) looked as pissed off as Parcells. I just find it odd T.O. finished practice but had a hissy fit throwing his helmet to one accound, and suddenly he has missed 13 practices. A strained hammy is by far one of the easiest injuries to fake. Parcells sounded like he didn't believe T.O.'s injury routine. I don't care if a doctor verified it...I don't buy how he suddenly became injured the day after a hissy fit. I just don't buy it, and obviously Parcells doesn't either.

I think Arizona was very close to pulling their offer off the table.

[daniel80111]

The negativity towards Matt is terrible in this thread. Being from LA, he automatically hates football?? Wow, trying to get a great rookie contract is a NECCESSITY for any football player. I'm glad he got his deal and settled the business side of things. What most people don't understand is how much he improved from his freshman year in college to his senior year. When Carson Palmer left, he did not win the starting QB job. It is a wide known fact that Matt Cassell beat him out in spring ball, and he only earned the job because the coaches saw how hard he worked to get better. They loved this about him.

[youcandoit1687]

U$C
it should just be expected

[youcandoit1687]

The negativity towards Matt is terrible in this thread. Being from LA, he automatically hates football?? Wow, trying to get a great rookie contract is a NECCESSITY for any football player. I'm glad he got his deal and settled the business side of things. What most people don't understand is how much he improved from his freshman year in college to his senior year. When Carson Palmer left, he did not win the starting QB job. It is a wide known fact that Matt Cassell beat him out in spring ball, and he only earned the job because the coaches saw how hard he worked to get better. They loved this about him.

why did it take him two weeks until after the QBs and picks around him got signed to get signed. i know bidwell has a history but this contract was already framed with cutler and young as well as some of the picks around him. yes the sims deal threw it off but he could have just taken a little more than the cutler deal. it doesnt make any sense

[daniel80111]

U$C
it should just be expected

Wow, low blow on SC.

If he feels he deserves more money than was offered, than by all means hold out. The bottom line is that the NFL is a business. One has to be ignorant to believe it isn't. And above that, a rookie contract is the most important deal in a player's career. He had the offer framed from Cutler and Young's deal. But the offer started at 9 mill, which is much too low for a QB. Everyone in the business knows that QB's in the 1st round receive more guaranteed money than position players. Even if the position players are picked ahead. He believes that he's a franchise QB, and wants franchise money. Kudos to him for getting the business side taken care of.

[Dr. Broncenstein]

Leinart washes out like a gravy stain before this contract is up... you heard it here first.

[watermock]

The rookie contract is NOT the most important one, the second contract is. He could of held out till they pulled the offer off the table because he was lagging. I don't care if he got beat out in spring training, that just shows that he wasn't felt of that highly by the USC coaching staff. It's not unusual to low ball the original offer. When Cutler signed, it pretty much set the table and he was offered 14 guaranteed. I never heard the original offer was 9 guaranteed, and it's irrelevant. The offer was on the table at 14 and declined, period. Kudos for what? Missing 20 practices? Your being a colossal apologist for a player that doesn't even have impressive natural physical abilty that was surrounded by players like R. Bush, L. White and Mike Williams as well as a fine coach in Carrol. Their OL was also outstanding.

It was very simple to slot the contract after Cutler signed. 12/48 which was quite generous but reasonable in this day and age.

[watermock]

Leinart washes out like a gravy stain before this contract is up... you heard it here first.

I think he will be serviceable but not near the upside of Cutler.

[daniel80111]

The rookie contract is NOT the most important one, the second contract is. He could of held out till they pulled the offer off the table because he was lagging. I don't care if he got beat out in spring training, that just shows that he wasn't felt of that highly by the USC coaching staff. It's not unusual to low ball the original offer. When Cutler signed, it pretty much set the table and he was offered 14 guaranteed. I never heard the original offer was 9 guaranteed, and it's irrelevant. The offer was on the table at 14 and declined, period. Kudos for what? Missing 20 practices? Your being a colossal apologist for a player that doesn't even have impressive natural physical abilty that was surrounded by players like R. Bush, L. White and Mike Williams as well as a fine coach in Carrol. Their OL was also outstanding.

It was very simple to slot the contract after Cutler signed. 12/48 which was quite generous but reasonable in this day and age.

You seem to be incredibly critical of Matt. Rookie contract is the most important contract for a rookie. Injuries happen so often that the first contract needs to set aside financial security. And a few million dollars here goes a long way. Anyways, I have to get to bed. Fall camp 2 a days are rough. Ease off on Matt a little. Take care guys.

[bpc]

Leinart should be good with the weapons they have... I don't think he starts this season though. The best thing the Cards did was move to a domed stadium. Warner will thrive in that atmosphere with those weapons. Warner will be protected from inclimate weather and everything which should provide him for a pretty good season. He'll have 11 dome games this year scoring additional games at Min, ATL, and St. Louis. He also got favorable matchups with getting Green Bay and Seattle early enough in the year where he won't have to worry about the cold weather. His season wraps up nicely with trips to California against SD and SF.

I think Warner has an outside shot to make the pro bowl this year.

[Clockwork Orange]

Rookie contract is the most important contract for a rookie.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a rookie contract the only contract for a rookie?

[gbbroncofan]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a rookie contract the only contract for a rookie?

Man thats prophetic. :approve:
I love it when the truth is spoken.

[Killericon]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a rookie contract the only contract for a rookie?

That's deep, man.

[telluride]

There's a piece coming out this weekend in the NYTimes about Leinart, and though it's a positive article, Leinart does come off as a bit of a dip and a partier, who is not all that keen on the actual game. Apparently his biggest concern for the last few months was getting the correct swimming pool/party area put into his new AZ mega-mansion, and then having a water slide installed from his bedroom window down to the pool. (No kidding.)

Well, good luck to him. He's got some great WRs.

[daniel80111]

The rookie contract is NOT the most important one, the second contract is. He could of held out till they pulled the offer off the table because he was lagging. I don't care if he got beat out in spring training, that just shows that he wasn't felt of that highly by the USC coaching staff. It's not unusual to low ball the original offer. When Cutler signed, it pretty much set the table and he was offered 14 guaranteed. I never heard the original offer was 9 guaranteed, and it's irrelevant. The offer was on the table at 14 and declined, period. Kudos for what? Missing 20 practices? Your being a colossal apologist for a player that doesn't even have impressive natural physical abilty that was surrounded by players like R. Bush, L. White and Mike Williams as well as a fine coach in Carrol. Their OL was also outstanding.

It was very simple to slot the contract after Cutler signed. 12/48 which was quite generous but reasonable in this day and age.

Looks like Peyton Manning had all these things the last couple years...yet no one is complaining. Carson Palmer is a pretty darn good NFL QB, it just happens the Matt Leinart broke all of his records with a less experienced O-line. Regardless, I KNOW the coaches trusted the guy more than anyone on the team in crunch time and pressure situations. So he was surrounded by talent, most of the great ones always are. Besides the best QB in the NFL Tom Brady, he's one of a kind.

btw, Cutler got 12.9 mill guaranteed, they started Leinart off at 9 mill. Let alone, when they moved to 14 mill, they had clauses that gave the team multiple options to back out. Something Cutler didn't have.

[0SE7EN]

What I found Hilarious this weekend in AZ, local broadcasting was airing Qwest commericals with Leinart, advertising him as "New Arizona Cardinal QB" and he wasn't even signed.

Here's my take. I've been hearing a lot of criticism for both sides on local radio here. The morning radio guys that cover the Cards here usually maintain a very unbiased opinion toward things. Although they feel both camps need to take some blame for this holdout, Their reports indicate that it is the organization's fault.

I've been living in AZ for many years and this is very typical of the Cardinals, to lowball and try to go cheap on everything. Matt's original proposal was only going to count 2 million against the cap this year...The cardinals are 12 million UNDER THE CAP. The Bidwells are idiots, they screw the team and the city year in and year out. Leinart isn't stupid. Kurt Warner injured HIMSELF last year by simply running out of bounds. No contact, nothing fancy...he was just running out of bounds and blew out his hamstring. The Cardinal's Backup QB's are looking pretty pathetic right now. Leinart needs to get paid now, because he could be starting as soon as this year if he gets hurt.

The Cardinals are full of crap. They offer up crappy contracts and then go public and complain with their arms in the air acting like the player has some kind of problem.

Leinart's Camp was happy with the guarantees that they offered (14 million) Cutler got 11 and Young got 25. They never had a problem with the guarantees, but they weren't happy with all of these escalator clauses that the Cards were proposing. Stupid things like "he must take at least 60% of the snaps in year 2...90 in year 3...etc." What kind of crap is that? Nobody would want to sign that.

Yet the Cards go out in public, acting like they had this great contract and Leinart is being greedy. Leinart had no problem with the guarantees, which is what Denny Green was making it sound like. "Ohhh 14 million..blah blah...I don't understand why he's not signing..blah blah" Failing to mention the other details in the contract which are bogus.

Whether you like Leinart or not...he's not a bad kid. I'm not a big fan of him or USC personally, but I really don't feel he was in the wrong here. The Cards are notorious for insulting players intelligence with their lousy contracts. Finally they took the escalators out and now Leinart is happy. That's all they really wanted from the beginning and I don't blame him.

[daniel80111]

What I found Hilarious this weekend in AZ, local broadcasting was airing Qwest commericals with Leinart, advertising him as "New Arizona Cardinal QB" and he wasn't even signed.

Here's my take. I've been hearing a lot of criticism for both sides on local radio here. The morning radio guys that cover the Cards here usually maintain a very unbiased opinion toward things. Although they feel both camps need to take some blame for this holdout, Their reports indicate that it is the organization's fault.

I've been living in AZ for many years and this is very typical of the Cardinals, to lowball and try to go cheap on everything. Matt's original proposal was only going to count 2 million against the cap this year...The cardinals are 12 million UNDER THE CAP. The Bidwells are idiots, they screw the team and the city year in and year out. Leinart isn't stupid. Kurt Warner injured HIMSELF last year by simply running out of bounds. No contact, nothing fancy...he was just running out of bounds and blew out his hamstring. The Cardinal's Backup QB's are looking pretty pathetic right now. Leinart needs to get paid now, because he could be starting as soon as this year if he gets hurt.

The Cardinals are full of crap. They offer up crappy contracts and then go public and complain with their arms in the air acting like the player has some kind of problem.

Leinart's Camp was happy with the guarantees that they offered (14 million) Cutler got 11 and Young got 25. They never had a problem with the guarantees, but they weren't happy with all of these escalator clauses that the Cards were proposing. Stupid things like "he must take at least 60% of the snaps in year 2...90 in year 3...etc." What kind of crap is that? Nobody would want to sign that.

Yet the Cards go out in public, acting like they had this great contract and Leinart is being greedy. Leinart had no problem with the guarantees, which is what Denny Green was making it sound like. "Ohhh 14 million..blah blah...I don't understand why he's not signing..blah blah" Failing to mention the other details in the contract which are bogus.

Whether you like Leinart or not...he's not a bad kid. I'm not a big fan of him or USC personally, but I really don't feel he was in the wrong here. The Cards are notorious for insulting players intelligence with their lousy contracts. Finally they took the escalators out and now Leinart is happy. That's all they really wanted from the beginning and I don't blame him.

Thank you for doing this.

[0SE7EN]

Thank you for doing this.

No problem. The Cards are a very small market. I think nationally, the things covered on his contract situation were a little unfair to Leinart. Nobody is saying you have to like Leinart. But from what I've seen of him, he seems like a nice kid who is somehow happy to be with the Cards and wants to do well here. The Cardinals always find ways to screw things up, but I feel that people in here seem to be judgeing him a little prematurely based on personal opinion of him. He's a little too Hollywood for me, but he doesn't seem all that Greedy. He knew that going for a 3rd title might lose him a lot of Money and draft position. He wasn't expecting to get paid more than Young, or get paid like a 1st overall pick...he just didn't want to sign a crappy contract. Like him or not, you can't blame him for that.


I guarantee you, if the Cards had drafted a less popular player in his place, they would have ended up with the same problems and no one would have heard about it on a national level. Because it is Leinart from USC, he's got that hollywood look, people just love to hate guys like that and are looking for reasons to throw dirt on him.

[shakenbake]

Looks like Peyton Manning had all these things the last couple years...yet no one is complaining. Carson Palmer is a pretty darn good NFL QB, it just happens the Matt Leinart broke all of his records with a less experienced O-line. Regardless, I KNOW the coaches trusted the guy more than anyone on the team in crunch time and pressure situations. So he was surrounded by talent, most of the great ones always are. Besides the best QB in the NFL Tom Brady, he's one of a kind.

I heard Pete Carroll on the raido last year and he was asked to compare Leinart and Palmer and he said that Palmer was "perfect". He then went on to further praise Palmer's game and everything he brings to the table without mentioning Leinart again.

[daniel80111]

I heard Pete Carroll on the raido last year and he was asked to compare Leinart and Palmer and he said that Palmer was "perfect". He then went on to further praise Palmer's game and everything he brings to the table without mentioning Leinart again.

I see, that's understandable. Do you know Pete Carroll?? Carroll's opinion of Leinart is VERY high. I can put my life on that.