FanHouse BrianSt.Pierre

Sorting the Sunday Pile looks back at the NFL weekend that was. It's also an unofficial Brady Quinn blog.

A year ago, Matt Cassel got his chance to be an NFL starting quarterback when then-Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard blew up Tom Brady's knee. Cassel led the Patriots to 11 wins, and played well enough for the Chiefs to trade for him in the offseason.

Smash cut to Cassel tweaking his knee during Kansas City's third preseason game (God's sense of humor is underrated), which forced him to miss the first Sunday of the 2009 season. Any chances the Chiefs -- an outfit that won six times in their last 32 games -- had against the Ravens were out the window with Cassel on the bench.

Sorting the Sunday Pile looks back at the NFL weekend that was. It's also an unofficial Brady Quinn blog.

A year ago, Matt Cassel got his chance to be an NFL starting quarterback when then-Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard blew up Tom Brady's knee. Cassel led the Patriots to 11 wins, and played well enough for the Chiefs to trade for him in the offseason.

Smash cut to Cassel tweaking his knee during Kansas City's third preseason game (God's sense of humor is underrated), which forced him to miss the first Sunday of the 2009 season. Any chances the Chiefs -- an outfit that won six times in their last 32 games -- had against the Ravens were out the window with Cassel on the bench.

On Monday, the NFL announced its preseason schedule for 2009, and the most intriguing game -- as intriguing as preseason games can be -- might be between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals on Thursday, Aug. 13.

Even though Kurt Warner just signed a two-year deal to stay in Arizona, Matt Leinart is still a play away, as they say. Except that if you believe the other Cardinals backup, Brian St. Pierre, who told his hometown paper that head coach Ken Whisenhunt promised him the opportunity to win the backup gig.

On its face, it sounds preposterous. Leinart was the team's 2006 first-round pick; St. Pierre was drafted by the Steelers as a late-round afterthought and spent the first few years of his NFL career toiling away on the practice squad.

Logic dictated that, after the Cardinals hit Karlos Dansby with the franchise tag, Arizona had some sort of unspoken agreement to sign Kurt Warner quickly after he became a free agent.

Additionally, it's widely known that Warner told the team he wanted to stay with the Cardinals after this year. But that didn't stop the Arizona from, presumably, leveraging Warner's wishes into him taking less money. One problem: Warner hasn't caved. And now Adam Schefter is reporting that there won't be anything done by midnight either, making the quarterback an unrestricted free agent.

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

After astonishing everyone and heading to the Super Bowl last season, the Arizona Cardinals now face truly raised expectations for the first time in memory. We all remember the magical postseason run, when Larry Fitzgerald established himself as the NFL's premier wideout (even if Andre Johnson wants to argue), Kurt Warner polished his legacy, and the defense showed its capability -- one we had not seen much in the regular season.

Over the past two weeks we've heard all about the numerous connections between Pittsburgh and the Arizona Cardinals, and there are plenty. So many, in fact, that the Cardinals are jokingly referred to as "Pittsburgh west" by Steelers fans.

The story's of Ken Whisenhunt and Russ Grimm are well documented. Clark Haggans, Brian St. Pierre, Jerame Tuman and Sean Morey are all former Steelers, while Steve Breaston and Reggie Wells were actually born in Pittsburgh.

Notes from the press box at Bank of America Stadium for Panthers - Cardinals.

Anquan Boldin gave his hamstring a run, testing it on the field early on in the evening in Charlotte. But apparently, he didn't feel like he would be capable of completing the game or actually contributing with a high level of play.

Or Ken Wisenhunt was worried about wasting "a roster spot." Or something inane like that.

Regardless of why, though, Boldin won't suit up; the Panthers media relations people just passed out the inactive sheet, and he's by far and away the biggest name on the list. Unless you think Brian St. Pierre could get some run if both Kurt Warner and Matt Leinart got hurt.

On Thursday, the Cardinals faced the Saints in their first preseason game of 2008 and the outcome left a little something to be desired (the eight penalties didn't help, I'm guessing). Arizona would lose 24-10, but they did it without Kurt Warner, the sorta, kinda second-string quarterback who could conceivably win the starting gig.

Head coach Ken Whisenhunt held Warner out against New Orleans to keep him from having to play behind the Cards' second-team offensive line. That was the story, anyway. Pro Football Weekly wonders if it had something to do with money.

...Contract negotiations with Cardinals QB Kurt Warner have hit a bit of a snag, with both sides having a problem agreeing on Warner's worth - an understandable dilemma for a player who is considered a backup on the depth chart but excelled as a starter after Matt Leinart was lost for the 2007 season. In the meantime, daily camp observers tell us Warner has appeared to be more of a fan favorite in the early going than Leinart.

Shocking that this could all be about the money. Not sure what Warner's looking for, or what the Cards are willing to fork over, but he seems like a pretty important insurance policy against Matt Leinart. Or, as Warner's hoping still happens, a chance to win the job outright.

Whatever, this will probably resolved in short order, unless, of course, Whisenhunt has supreme confidence that Brian St. Pierre is ready to assume backup job.