In 2010, three years after they triumphed over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, the New York Giants were forced into the quarterback market. They had lost veteran David Carr to the San Francisco 49ers and needed someone to back up Eli Manning.
At the time, the Giants settled on Sage Rosenfels but weren’t entirely satisfied with that room.
During a recent episode of Throwbacks with Matt Leinart and Jerry Ferrara, Leinart revealed that he was nearly traded from the Arizona Cardinals to the Giants to fill that role.
“They were trying to trade me to the New York Football Giants… to back up Eli,” Leinart said. “I ended up getting cut, and I signed with the Texans like three days later. That’s when I went to Houston.
“But there were conversations — and I’m almost positive about this — that (head coach Ken Whisenhunt) was like, ‘Hey, we’ve been talking to the Giants about potentially trading you.’ … But yeah, it was the Giants. My agent was like, they liked me.”
Leinart said he preferred to be released as opposed to being traded, giving him the freedom to choose his next destination. That’s exactly what happened, and he ended up with the Texans.
“So, that almost happened. I was almost traded to the Giants,” he said.
Leinart, a first-round pick of the Cardinals in the 2006 NFL draft, spent two seasons with the Texans before a year with the Oakland Raiders. He eventually wrapped things up with the Buffalo Bills in 2013.
In 33 career games (18 starts), Leinart completed 57.1 percent of his passes for 4,065 yards, 15 touchdowns, and 21 interceptions.
The Giants, meanwhile, settled on Rosenfels and Jim Sorgi as their backups in 2010 before re-signing Carr to back up Manning in 2011. They went on to win the Super Bowl that year, again defeating the Patriots.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Matt Leinart reveals he was nearly traded to New York Giants in 2010
Reporting by Dan Benton, Giants Wire / Giants Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
