Rumors Persist: Leinart Might Lose Out to St. Pierre for Backup Job

In March, a month after the Steelers' come-from-behind victory over the Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII, Arizona backup-to-the-backup quarterback Brian St. Pierre told his hometown paper that not only did the team want to re-sign him, but head coach Ken Whisenhunt indicated that he would get a legitimate chance to compete with Matt Leinart for the No. 2 job.

At the time, It seemed more like idle offseason speculation, especially since the Cards had taken Leinart with the 10th-overall pick in 2006, and St. Pierre, a career clipboard toter, had thrown one NFL pass in seven years. Now, with training camps underway, word on the street is that Leinart indeed might be in danger of dropping to third on the depth chart.

From Yahoo.com's Jason Cole: "While some people believe the promise to St. Pierre by coach Ken Whisenhunt was an empty ploy, two sources indicated that the threat is very real for Leinart and that he needs to improve his game and show better mental toughness.

Both sources also rolled their eyes when asked about Leinart's offseason MMA training, which was advertised as a way to improve Leinart's toughness."

If nothing else, the MMA training indicates that Leinart's committed to ... something, which is an improvement over previous offseasons. Still, working out with Jay Glazer doesn't make Leinart a better quarterback, and right now, that's a concern. For everybody but Matt, anyway.

"Everybody has to compete for a job out there ... I'm not worried about it. I'm going to keep doing my thing."

Ideally, Leinart would win the backup gig going away, and in a year or two, he'd move into the starting job. Instead, he might be designated the emergency quarterback on game days and the Cardinals will still be looking for a young franchise quarterback to replace Warner. Let me be the first to suggest this guy.*

* Joke. Sort of.

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