Carson Palmer might be retired.
Matt Leinart might be reborn.
On Tuesday, the first full day under the NFL’s new collective bargaining agreement, the two Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks from USC took widely divergent paths.
The Cincinnati Bengals claim Palmer has retired — although Palmer himself has yet to talk about it publicly.
And Leinart, the No. 10 pick in 2006 who bounced from the Arizona Cardinals to the Houston Texans but hasn’t gotten traction on his career, agreed to terms with Seattle, where he will be reunited with former Trojans coach Pete Carroll. That deal cannot be finalized until Friday, when teams are allowed to sign free agents.
“I do believe Matt will be successful there,” said Steve Clarkson, who has worked extensively with Leinart as a quarterbacks coach for more than a decade. “Pete is very hungry to do something. Pete’s one of those guys that when he gets confident about something and wants to get it done, he usually does it. Matt’s going to be the beneficiary of that.”
There is opportunity for Leinart in Seattle, because the Seahawks are not going to keep veteran Matt Hasselbeck, who turned down a lucrative one-year deal.
But that doesn’t mean Leinart is a lock for either of the top two spots on the depth chart. The Seahawks already have Charlie Whitehurst — they traded a second- and third-round pick to get him last year — and they agreed to terms with Tarvaris Jackson, formerly Brett Favre’s backup in Minnesota.
Just as Leinart has played for Carroll, Jackson has worked closely with Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, who had the same job when they were both in Minnesota.
Still, Clarkson thinks this could be the break Leinart needs.
“Knowing Pete, he thinks he can get something out of Matt that no one else can,” Clarkson said. “I think that’s all Matt’s looking for, a true opportunity, one he didn’t feel like he got in Arizona.”
As for Palmer, he had asked to be traded and said he would retire instead of returning to Cincinnati. Bengals owner Mike Brown said a trade is out of the question.
“I’m not expecting him to be back,” Brown said. “If he is going to walk away from his commitment, we aren’t going to reward him for doing it.”
