While Cardinals fans are forced to wait and see who the next starting quarterback will be, it seems that the Seattle Seahawks have already made up their minds.
It has been reported that the Seahawks have no interest in bringing back veteran Matt Hasselbeck and have chosen to go with the younger and more mobile Tarvaris Jackson. Also, there is rampant speculation that Seattle could have interest in former Arizona Cardinal and USC Trojan, Matt Leinart.
In a move that is considered to be puzzling to most, it appears that Tarvaris Jackson and the Seahawks have worked out a deal that would bring T-Jax to Emerald City. I have not heard a firm number on what his contract will be worth, but one could assume that it will not be overly lucrative.
With the Seahawks apparently ready to let Jackson and Charlie Whitehurst battle it out for the starting spot, Kevin Kolb now only has one reported suitor: the Cardinals. With the Seahawks pulling out of the Kolb sweepstakes (and possibly putting themselves into the Andrew Luck one), the Philadelphia Eagles have seemingly lost all leverage to hold Kolb hostage for an exorbitant price. The Cardinals now have the upper hand and will probably continue to wheel and deal with the Eagles until a deal is made or until frustration mounts and a stalemate occurs.
As far as Leinart goes, it is not a done deal. He even said so himself Monday night when he Tweeted this:
Just wanted to say I have not signed with Seattle amongst all the speculation. I am still weighing the options. Keep you posted
Seattle could be a comfortable landing spot for Leinart, as he would be reunited with his old college coach, Pete Carroll. However, Leinart wants to contend for a starting position on whatever team he lands on and the Washington Redskins have also shown interest in him. In D.C., Leinart would have less stiff competition, as he would be battling the likes of Rex Grossman and John Beck to be the starting signal caller. He could make it as a starter in Seattle as well, but he would presumably come in as the third string QB.
None of these moves can be made official until Friday, which is the first day that free agents are eligible to sign with new teams. Barring something drastic, these contracts are all but signed.
So check the quarterback position off for Seattle. Let's just hope that sometime soon we can say the same thing for Arizona.