New York Giants QB Matt Leinart Backing Up Eli Manning? It Nearly Happened

Heisman trophy winner Matt Leinart revealed earlier this week that he came close to backing up Eli Manning with the Giants.

As Leinart tells it, by 2010, he’d fallen out of favor with Arizona head coach Ken Whisenhunt and the team signed free agent QB Derek Anderson in the offseason. By training camp, he knew he wouldn't be a Cardinal for much longer, and at one point, thought he was destined for the Big Apple.

"They were trying to trade me to the New York Football Giants…to back up Eli (Manning)" Leinart told co-host Jerry Ferrara earlier this week on the duo's podcast, Throwbacks with Matt Leinart and Jerry Ferrara. "I ended up getting cut and signed with the Texans like two days later or three days later. That's when I went to Houston. But, there were conversations."

Leinart, selected 10th overall by Arizona in 2006, went into Whisenhunt's office to ask the coach about the rumors he was hearing that would've sent him to Big Blue. "He was like, ‘Hey, we’ve been talking to the Giants about potentially trading you,'" Leinart said of Whisenhunt. He then added that the Giants were interested because he and Manning had similar playing styles as pocket-passers.

A trade never materialized and Leinart, as he alluded to, instead signed with Houston two days after being released by the Cardinals.

Matt Leinart (11) of the Houston Texans drops back to pass against the New York Jets in the first half of their preseason game on Monday, August 15, 2011, in Houston, Texas. (George Bridges/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Leinart Also Nearly Ended Up In Washington

Once Leinart was released, another NFC East team expressed interest in him other than the Giants. The Washington Redskins (yes, they were still the ‘skins at this point). Current 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan was the team’s offensive coordinator, and he reached out to Leinart in an effort to entice him to sign with Washington. "They had five or six quarterbacks, but he thought I fit well in that system," Leinart recalled. Despite Shanahan's efforts, Leinart found Houston's system more appealing. 

In two seasons with the Texans as Matt Schaub's backup, Leinart appeared in two games with one start.

Leinart, an analyst for Fox's Big Noon Kickoff, finished his pro career with a season in Oakland and a brief stay with Buffalo during the 2013 preseason. He and his co-host, Ferrara, wondered aloud how different things would've been if he had ended up in New York as Eli's backup. Between November 2004 and November 2017, Manning started 210 consecutive regular-season games. Manning's 210 consecutive starts is the third-longest streak in NFL history.

"I could've been the backup there for like eight years," Leinart said. When Ferrara reminded him he'd have won a Super Bowl ring with the Giants in 2011, Leinart shook his head and laughed, adding: "What could have been?"

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