Matt Leinart has less than four hours remaining in his disappointing Cardinals career. The Cardinals have released the former No. 10 overall pick. Ken Whisenhunt has decided to go with Max Hall as the backup to Derek Anderson.

Though not at the JaMarcus Russell level, this puts Leinart in the “biggest bust this decade” discussion. Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic pours some salt into the Bidwell Family’s wounds by pointing out, “The Cardinals don't have to pay Leinart's $2.485 million salary this year, but Leinart has collected about $17.6 million from the club since being the 10th overall pick in the 2006 draft.”
Leinart will be free to join any team, though he’ll have to be willing to do so as a backup. Earlier this week, the Raiders, Giants and Bills were rumored to have interest.
Don’t overlook the Seahawks as a possible destination for the former Heisman Trophy winner. Pete Carroll, we’ll assume, is a Leinart fan. Seattle just parted ways with J.P. Losman. Of course, the Seahawks also invested fairly heavily in Charlie Whitehurst over the offseason. If Leinart were to sign there, he’d likely be settling for zero playing time in 2010 and a mere promise for a chance to compete for the task of replacing Matt Hasselbeck in 2011. (And that’s assuming the Seahawks decide to replace Hasselbeck in 2011.)
For more NFL news, rumors and analysis, follow @cbssportsnfl on Twitter and subscribe to our RSS Feed .




