Matt

Leinart

The presence of Vince Young, Jay Cutler, and Brodie Croyle accompanied by the fact that Leinart didn’t participate in Senior Bowl activities is given as the reasoning. Although it doesn’t seem he’s as likely as Rodgers may have been to fall, no one saw what happened last year coming, either. Leinart’s agents Leigh Steinberg and Chuck Price have apparently been quarrelling, but at his point there’s no way he gets past Miami at 16.

Williamson calls Leinart “a waste of time” for the Raiders and questions where he would fit with Jason Campbell entrenched as the starter and Bruce Gradkowski locked into the No. 2 job. Campbell (wrist/stinger) has already started throwing passes in practice this week, so there’s no need to bring in Leinart as injury insurance. Beat writer Jerry McDonald agrees that the “dots don’t connect” on Leinart to the Raiders.

“ESPN’s Adam Schefter is once again making untrue statements about The Oakland Raiders, this time regarding Matt Leinart,” the Raiders wrote on their Twitter account. Raiders assistant Paul Hackett recruited Leinart to USC and personnel man Keith Rowan was Leinart’s first NFL coordinator. As usual, chances are Schefter got the report correct.

Oakland and the Giants are in need of a backup while Buffalo is desperate for any kind of talent infusion at the position. At this point, Leinart needs to change his attitude and accept a No. 2 role with a smile while rehabbing the league’s perception of him. The Cardinals would do well just to get a sixth-round draft pick for Leinart considering his $2.5 million salary this season. One way or another, he’ll be off the Cardinals roster by Saturday.

It’s probably safe to assume that Leinart’s former coach Pete Carroll heads the camp that is calling for the team to sign the QB. PFT also confirms that the Texans and Raiders remain in the mix for Leinart.

It will be Leinart’s first known visit since he was released by the Texans last month. The Raiders currently have just Terrelle Pryor and Rhett Bomar behind Palmer. If Leinart indeed signs, he’ll be lucky to be getting another backup opportunity after seeing his latest chance end after just 13 throws last season. New Raiders OC Greg Knapp was the Texans QBs coach the past two seasons.

The Raiders may simply be doing due diligence by checking out Leinart’s rehab from last year’s broken collarbone. ESPN’s Adam Schefter did report over the weekend that Leinart would “likely” sign with the Raiders. We shall see.

Leinart and Carson Palmer have a USC connection. They’re also both big, tall, unathletic quarterbacks. The Raiders could probably do better than Leinart, though. Aside from Peyton Manning, QBs left on the free agent market include David Garrard, Vince Young, Byron Leftwich, Donovan McNabb, and Billy Volek.

King says Texans coach Gary Kubiak expected to be “offensively explosive” under Leinart after losing Matt Schaub to a Lisfranc fracture, and believed he was “just turning around his disappointing career.” Now backing up Carson Palmer in Oakland, King believes Leinart will be “one of the best insurance policies in the NFL” this season. Four days shy of his 29th birthday, Leinart has completed only 350-of-608 passes (57.6%) in 31 career games, posting a 15:20 TD:INT ratio.

It’s a logical fit. Carson Palmer lacks an established backup, and new offensive boss Gregg Knapp worked with Leinart as Texans QBs coach the past two years. Terrelle Pryor will spend another season in the No. 3 developmental role. Leinart is getting the call over Jim Sorgi, who also worked out for the Raiders.