Clark Haggans Brought Back To Mentor, But He's Not Giving Up On Starting

When the Arizona Cardinals re-signed veteran linebacker Clark Haggans, it was hardly a surprise. Pretty much everyone believes that he will be simply a veteran mentor and backup. Some comments seem to support that.

Defensive coordinator Ray Horton said, "If you see his notes, it's like Penmanship 101. You say, 'Oh, my goodness, look how nice this is.' It trickles down. Here's a guy who has been in this defense forever and he's taking notes."

"Those are the unmentioned things that go a long way in building a quality team," Haggans himself said.

He is well liked in the locker room and works very hard.

However, even with Sam Acho and O'Brien Schofield the likely starter, he isn't just conceding his starting job. Haggans had this to say:

"It kind of makes you feel old in a way, but there is no rocking chair in front of my locker yet. You roll with it...
I think everything will define itself, so we will just line it up and let it play out."

He will be fine as a backup. But he's not going to be content just giving it up.

We mostly all think that Schofield will start ahead of Haggans. But what odds do you give Haggans of winning it again? It's not 50/50 in my book, but I would say he has a 30 percent chance of being a starter.

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