Cardinals coach loses patience with rookie's holdout

Football Betting Lines

08/14/2006 -

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) -Arizona Cardinals coach Dennis Green has lost his patience with rookie Matt Leinart and his contract holdout.

Green sharply criticized Leinart and his representatives on Monday for rejecting ``a more than generous'' offer from the team.

``It is an outstanding contract,'' Green said. ``It's $14 million guaranteed.''

Green said the deal is far more than a 10th pick would normally receive.

Leinart's agent, Tom Condon, did not return a telephone message seeking a response to Green's comments.

Leinart is the only first-round pick unsigned. The next-to-last holdout agreed to terms a week ago. That's the date, Green said, the Cardinals made their latest offer.

Leinart might have been the No. 1 pick in the draft a year ago but he decided to remain at USC for his senior season. This year, he unexpectedly fell to the Cardinals at the No. 10 spot.

Green said the sides were at odds over the total value of the contract, which the coach said was among the top five of this year's deals with draft picks.

The main issue reportedly is the size of escalation clauses that would give Leinart additional money the more he plays.

Green was upset with the perception that Cardinals owner Bill Bidwill was being cheap in the negotiations.

``I've been here two years,'' Green said. ``All I know is when we set out a strategy, whether it be signing Bertrand Berry, or drafting Larry Fitzgerald, Bill Bidwill has helped us get that player.''

He said the signing of running back Edgerrin James was the best example.

``Edgerrin James is as big as they come,'' Green said. ``We had our powder dry and we got a guy who's been the most significant back in the National Football League over the last seven years.''

Leinart's absence was magnified when backup John Navarre threw two interceptions in Saturday's preseason opener against Pittsburgh.

Kurt Warner understands Green's frustrations.

``Coach wants guys to help us win and Matt's one of those guys that's going to make our team better,'' Warner said. ``That sometimes can get frustrating as players, as a coach, because so much of that is out of your control.''

``Leinart has missed a crucial two weeks of training camp,'' Warner said.

``I think everybody knows that the more days you miss, the more games you miss, the farther and farther you fall behind and the harder it is to catch up,'' Warner said.

He said that the number of reps a backup quarterback gets diminishes the closer it gets to the regular season. Green said he looks forward to former Super Bowl MVPs Warner and Tom Brady, ``who was not a No. 10 pick,'' playing for a quarter in Saturday's preseason game at New England.

``It would be a shame if Matt Leinart is still sitting out there as the only player in the National Football League who is not in the National Football League, and you've got an impressive deal on the table.

``That's just the kind of mood I'm in,'' Green said, before he walked away.

Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

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Betting the NFL preseason

Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."

When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. 

The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.

The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.

“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”

The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.

“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”

The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.

“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”

Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.

“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."

So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?

“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.

Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.

Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.

Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.

“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.

Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.

The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.

“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.

Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.