It’s not often that former first round picks are traded or released by their respective club without having spent a significant amount of time as a starter first, but in the case of Arizona quarterback Matt Leinart, it seems likely that very scenario will be playing itself out at some point this week.

According Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer, the Cardinals have been quietly shopping Leinart around the rest of the league over the past few days, and are expected to make a move one way another very soon (H/T to NFP)

Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic seconded Glazer’s post with his own thoughts, adding that an outright release is a very real possibility if Arizona is unable to find a trading partner of their liking before Saturday’s deadline to cut the roster to 53 players.

Leinart has been a major disappointment since he joined the Cardinals in 2006 as the 10th overall pick, struggling throughout his first two seasons to distinguish himself as the starter, and took a seat on the bench seemingly for good at the start of the 2008 campaign behind veteran Kurt Warner.

With Warner off to retirement this year though, Leinart was expected to be the starter once again, but after struggling immensely throughout the pre-season thus far, his hold on a position in Arizona is tenuous at best. Given his poor play, it’s doubtful that the Cardinals will receive much in the way of compensation for Leinart, but a team in need of a capable backup at quarterback may be willing to part with a late round draft pick to get him into the fold.

Looking over the league’s current slate of quarterbacks, teams that are likely to express some interest in the former Heisman Trophy winner include Kansas City, Cleveland, Seattle, and Jacksonville.

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