No offense to these gentlemen, but if your team's pantheon of top quarterbacks include the names "Lomax, Plummer, and Rosenbach," then your team has likely never had a true franchise quarterback.  Solid veterans such as Boomer Esiason and Kurt Warner have had cups of coffee with the franchise.  So too has anyone named McCown.  The Cardinals drafted Matt Leinart in the hope that he would be a franchise quarterback, and that his best years would actually be in an Arizona uniform.  As we peer upon the landscape of quarterbacks in the NFL, is Matt Leinart the answer?

If we have learned anything about quarterbacking in the NFL, it is that it has become the one position with a job qualification listed as "cerebral."  Many quarterbacks have been drafted high, but turned out to be products of a system (See Detmer, Ty or Ware, Andre).  Others had the legs or the cannon arm, but not the head (See Vick, Michael or Marinovich, Todd).  Is it possible that Matt Leinart fits into both of these groups?

Every time Arizona thinks it has answered its quarterback question, more questions arise.  Now Matt Leinart is hurt, and the Cardinals really don't know what they have in him.  Many suggestions were made that Arizona needed a veteran quarterback.  Pardon?  The Kurt Warner currently in uniform is the former Rams QB who won a Super Bowl and and league MVP, correct?  We aren't talking about Curt Warner, the Rams running back from the late 80s, right? 

The last thing the Cardinals need is a veteran QB that does nothing for the future of the franchise.  The Cardinals had a pretty good scenario.  They had a veteran QB with enough bullets in the gun for the short term, and teaching ability (cerebral) for the long term.  Kurt isn't getting any younger.  The Cardinals better darned well hope that Leinart is the answer, if they absolutely refuse to bring in a quarterback who can learn, push Leinart, and maybe usurp his spot on the depth chart.

Readers may wonder, "Gee, this person is really down on Matt Leinart."  Well, the problems with Leinart can be seen when compared to Warner.  One could compare year to year.  For instance, in 2005, Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald joined Tory Holt as the trio of receivers in the 100 catch club.  In 2006, the Cardinals added Edgerrin James to take pressure off the new quarterback.  The results weren't the same.  But the comparisons between the two could also be made from quarter to quarter.  Warner has looked sharp running the two minute drill (the cerebral portion of the playbook).  Leinart has looked less comfortable in lower pressure situations.

Perhaps Matt Leinart is the answer, or perhaps not.  One thing upon which we could all agree is that Tim Rattay is not the answer.  Am I suggesting that Troy Smith or Casey Bramlett are the answer?  Again, it's a crapshoot, but a less expensive crapshoot if things work for the best.  Trent Green, Mark Brunell, Phillip Rivers, Derek Anderson, and Tom Brady were drafted in various rounds, but each spent significant time as a number two or lower on the depth chart.  Many of these QBs have gone on to win some games.

Hopefully the Cardinals aren't married to Matt Leinart.  It's nothing personal, but I've seen too many NFL marriages end badly.  Matt Leinart has all the makings of a gambling adulterer, who buys just enough flowers to stay on the wife's good side.  Perhaps he'll change.  Or perhaps the Cardinals should realize that there are plenty of fish in the sea.