GLENDALE, Ariz. – If the Arizona Cardinals find themselves in need of a backup quarterback, Max Hall believes he can do the job.

Retired Arizona Cardinals QB Kurt Warner is in a tough spot between his former coach, Ken Whisenhunt, and his former understudy, Matt Leinart. Whisenhunt announced this week that Derek Anderson had taken the starting job from Leinart in preseason. "Coach has thought long and hard and watched every play since way back when they started this offseason, and the evaluation process starts with Coach and goes through I'm sure a number of other people," Warner told KGME-AM.

Well we know one thing and that is Matt Leniart won’t be playing quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals and maybe won’t be playing for anyone this year.

If you ask me it is time for Leniart to seek a job elsewhere. If he chooses he could make a position change but frankly it may be time to move on from football.

Where could the former Heisman Trophy winner go to? If you look beyond his football accolades there are many places he could go. So lets see where he may end up.

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The situation between Matt Leinart and the Arizona Cardinals grows messier by the day.

All signs point to head coach Ken Whisenhunt naming former Oregon State and Cleveland Browns quarterback Derek Anderson as the starter for the Cards’ season opener against the St. Louis Rams, now that Anderson will open Arizona’s final preseason contest against the Washington Redskins tonight.

After coming into the preseason as the projected starter, Leinart is upset with his likely role as the second-stringer for the opening game, and justifiably so. The Cardinals drafted Leinart with the 10th overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft after a highly successful (if now tainted) college career at USC.

Leinart struggled when pressed into action early on in his career, but had an opportunity over the last three seasons to grow and learn the intangibles of the position behind two-time league MVP Kurt Warner.

With Warner retiring after another prolific season in 2009, Leinart expected Whisenhunt and the Cards’ coaching staff to pass the torch his way. Leinart’s case was seemingly boosted by his preseason performance (19 pass completions in 23 attempts, a quarterback rating of over 110) as well as Anderson’s career of erratic play following a Pro Bowl season in 2007.

Even so, “Wiz” has chosen Anderson as his guy, rendering the situation between Leinart and the Cardinals just about untenable. Arizona has been reaching out to front offices around the league to gauge the market for their disgruntled quarterback.  Reports have three teams—the Buffalo Bills, the Oakland Raiders, and the New York Giants—in the running, though each already has a starter firmly entrenched at QB (Trent Edwards in Buffalo, Jason Campbell in Oakland, Eli Manning in New York).

Chances are Leinart won’t end up in the UFL and will be playing somewhere in the NFL this season.

While speculation about Leinart’s destination builds, perhaps the more intriguing question yet to be answered with any satisfaction is how the situation deteriorated to this point.

Speaking to 105.7 The Fan in Baltimore, former Cardinals star and current Ravens receiver Anquan Boldin offered some insight into the situation. When asked whether he was surprised Leinart had failed to secure the starting job in Arizona, Boldin responded:

“Honestly no. That’s just because I’ve been there and witnessed the relationship between both Matt and Coach Whisenhunt. So I’m actually not surprised.”

Given the circumstances surrounding the “Discontent in the Desert,” news of friction between Whisenhunt and Leinart shouldn’t come as a big surprise. The Cardinals have already invested a top draft pick, three years, and millions of dollars in Leinart, fully expecting him to take over for Warner this season and keep Anderson around as the backup.

Any change to this plan, set up by Arizona’s front office, would seemingly have been orchestrated by the coaching staff, led by Whisenhunt.

So why exactly has Anderson, whose preseason performance thus far (31-53, 287 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions) has left much to be desired, been given the go-ahead with Leinart still around? If Boldin’s comments about a strained relationship between Leinart and Whisenhunt are true, what caused the strain?

Following Leinart making his frustrations known to the media, Whisenhunt, appearing on the Scott Van Pelt Show, and addressed his concerns about the former Heisman Trophy winner in a rather thinly veiled manner:

“..there is a lot that goes with [playing quarterback] besides just statistics. It’s more about how you handle the team, how you handle situations. There is a certain quality that you have to have in that position and that is all part of the evaluation process. And I think, more importantly, is how your team responds to that player and how you handle that role.”

“I’m not talking about Matt. I’m just saying I feel like he has made great progress in that area, but, for whatever reason, we have not performed the way we have needed to perform as an offense. We have not made the progress that we as a coaching staff felt that we needed to do. So it’s not so much about that person as it is about trying to find the right combination. Once again, I believe Matt can play. I’m not saying that at all. I am just trying to find the best match for our football team.”

Really, Ken? You’re not talking about Matt, but really you are?

Such comments would suggest the strain between player and coach stems from something beyond numbers.

Leinart’s preseason measurables certainly look nice on paper, but even those are tempered by the reality that the vast majority of his completions and attempts came on short, simple plays and not on deep balls or more difficult routes.

Apparently, Leinart, at least in Whisenhunt’s eyes, isn’t exactly Mr. Intangible, which is understandable considering Leinart’s reputation for spending too much of his free time schmoozing with celebrities and living the Los Angeles lifestyle, and too little of it improving his game.

Perhaps Whisenhunt sees Leinart’s continued dissatisfaction with his role on the team as a symptom of a greater sense of entitlement, stemming in part from his incredibly successful college career.

It’s difficult to say what exactly Leinart lacks in Whisenhunt’s eyes because the deficiencies, aside from the quarterback’s weak throwing arm, are themselves intangible. Even if he has demonstrated the most complete knowledge and greatest control of the Cards’ offense of any quarterback on the roster, Leinart may still lack the leadership necessary for the position to get the likes of Larry Fitzgerald to perform at his best for him.

Of course, it doesn’t help that Leinart’s own coach doesn’t even have his back. If such is the case, how can anyone else in Arizona be expected to?

Clearly, there’s something else going on here, something beyond X’s and O’s and the game of football that is widening the rift between Matt Leinart and the Arizona Cardinals. Widening it to the point where he may very well be playing football elsewhere once the regular season kicks off.

Regardless of where the predicament goes from here, it seems as though this debacle is the continuation of a trend that’s been building since Leinart played at USC: USC, one way or another, losing to Oregon State.

Read more Arizona Cardinals news on BleacherReport.com

With the start of the NFL regular season less than two weeks away, teams’ rosters are beginning to take shape. 

Injuries and potential cuts have opened the door for numerous teams to become buyers and sellers in the next few days.

With so many big names who could shift teams, I’m looking at the useless ones. The guys who aren’t worth trading for. Maybe they stink, maybe you can get them off waivers in a few days, maybe they’re just more trouble than they’re worth. 

But, every name being bandied about is on this list, ranked in order of usefulness and likelihood of a trade. Let’s start at the bottom, or the most useful player to get traded. 

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Matt Leinart, Arizona Cardinals QB, might not have that team name in next to his name for too much longer.

The former star at USC, Heisman trophy winner, and first-round draft pick has had a falling out of sorts in the desert.

Despite completing 19 of his 23 pass attempts in three regular season games, Leinart has been passed over for former Brown Derek Anderson.

And don’t think he’s happy about it.

With what the Cardinals ownership (the notoriously stingy Bidwells) are paying him, don’t think they’re too happy with the situation either.

There is one solution to this whole mess: trade Leinart. But where? Who would be willing to pick up his massive salary ($2.4 million this season, $7.5 million next) for a guy who hasn’t proven his worth as an NFL starter. 

Here are 10 teams who could (or should) take a shot at Leinart in the coming days. I ranked them based on quality of team, quarterback situation, and Leinart’s potential happiness there. 

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One of the main goals of training camp was to find stability on offense, and that started with quarterback Matt Leinart, who was taking over for Kurt Warner.

But as camp progress, coach Ken Whisenhunt because troubled of the offense’s lack of productivity. While Leinart was accurate in the preseason, it seemed to Whisenhunt that he was failing to inspire confidence in teammates.

Whisenhunt has chosen his words carefully regarding Leinart, but there is no question that his benching would not have happened had Whisenhunt felt Leinart’s teammates were behind him.

Now, the Cardinals will open the season with Derek Anderson at quarterback, and Leinart is in limbo. The team is open to trading him, which means that either Max Hall or John Skelton, both rookies, would be…

By BOB BAUM AP Sports Writer

When the Cardinals announced their 6:45 p.m. press conference today, I’m sure that most of us thought it would have something to do with Matt Leinart, but thankfully it didn’t.

Instead, it was to announce Darnell Dockett signed a four-year extension with the team. The total deal is worth $48.5 million, and here’s the kicker: Dockett receives $30 million guaranteed for injury.  Now you see why he’s smiling.

You had to wonder, considering the contract grapple with Anquan Boldin, if the Cardinals’ organization would anti-up and pay Darnell Dockett his money. However, although Dockett hasn’t always been quiet about wanting to get paid his due, he has handled himself like a professional. He’s a hard worker who is dedicated to the gym and being in shape. That translates to sheer terror for quarterbacks on the field. (Remember he owns the records for sacks in a Super Bowl)

He is very rarely injured. In fact, he’s started 81 straight games for the Cardinals. Being an avid twitter fan, you would have expected him to have tweeted this good news, but he’s been quiet on the matter. However, he did address this question among others in his press conference.

Even Head Coach Ken Whisenhunt had some fun with Dockett, “To be honest, I am a little shocked because Darnell hasn’t said much about wanting an extension,” said Whisenhunt, with a smile on his face. But even Whisenhunt couldn’t deny the commitment that Dockett has shown to the Cardinals on and off the field. 

And here’s a comment Cardinal fans don’t hear much, “I do want to retire an Arizona Cardinal,” Dockett said, “I do believe in the organization and the people around us.”

Dockett will make $4.55 million in 2010 with a $15 million option bonus in 2011. Mike Florio, from Profootballtalk.com breaks down his salary year-by-year.

Finally, news from the Cardinals front that doesn’t involve a quarterback named Leinart. But that won’t last long my friends. But tonight, let’s crack a smile because Darnell finally got his money.

Read more Arizona Cardinals news on BleacherReport.com

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Arizona Cardinals now are entertaining trade offers for their former first-round draft pick, Matt Leinart.

Leinart has had a rough road in Arizona, gaining and losing the starters job several times ever since he was drafted.

With Kurt Warner now retired, it looked like it was Leinart’s time to shine, but apparently that is not to be as Derek Anderson has been named the starter for the fourth and final preseason game.

Following the announcement, trade rumors began flying, and neither the Cardinals or Leinart are denying anything.

Here are five talking points to consider about the fallen quarterback.

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