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Post by prossman on Feb 21, 2009 5:41:24 GMT -7
Reports: Warner leaning toward returnComment Email Print Share ESPN.com news services
Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner told the Arizona Republic on Friday he will likely return next season.
"I am leaning in that direction," Warner, 37, told the Republic via text message. "Not sure I have made a definitive decision yet."
Warner's agent, Mark Bartelstein, said his client is coming back. He told the Republic that Warner, "wants to play, for sure."
Warner's contract expired after the season and he will become an unrestricted free agent Feb. 27.
Warner said before last season he planned to play two more years. But he created doubt after the Cardinals lost Super Bowl XLIII to Pittsburgh by saying he was going to listen to what God had to say to him about retiring.
"Any time you are in your thirties and you finish a season where you have that long of a year going through the Super Bowl, you always want to take a second to take a deep breath and digest where you're at and make sure you are doing it for the right reasons," Bartelstein told the Chicago Sun Times. "He loves to play. He loves to compete and obviously he's still one of the premier quarterbacks in the NFL."
Warner will likely return to the Cardinals who, according to the Republic, have made him an offer.
"We're not going to fool anybody," Bartelstein told the Sun Times. "He'd like to stay in Arizona. That would be his first choice. But he owes it to himself and his family to have an open mind. If we can get a deal done with the Cardinals, great. If not, then obviously you've got to look at free agency."
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Post by prossman on Feb 21, 2009 5:46:50 GMT -7
Warner will return to the NFL in 2009 Posted: February 20th, 2009 | Adam Schefter | Tags: Arizona Cardinals, Kerry Collins, Kurt Warner, Tennessee Titans
While speculation swirled after Super Bowl XLIII about whether Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner would play or retire, the Cardinals organization had little doubt.
Warner regularly showed up to the Cardinals training facility, according to team sources. He met with Cardinals coaches. He talked as if he were hardly ready to walk away from the game. Few within the organization had any reason to think that Warner were done with football.
Now it is confirmed. Warner’s agent Mark Bartelstein told the Chicago Sun-Times at the Indianapolis scouting combine that his client had made his decision official.
“He’s decided he’s going to play,” Bartelstein said. “He’s made up his mind. He wants to play and he always wanted to play.”
That is consistent with the sentiments coming from the Cardinals. Now the two sides must work out a contract, which should not be difficult. Warner wants to be in Arizona, and the Cardinals want him there. It’s a similar story with free-agent-quarterback-to-be Kerry Collins and the Tennessee Titans. Tennessee has offered Collins a starting job, a lucrative contract extension and the chance to be with a team and city he loves.
Most people around the league believe that, unless Collins unexpectedly retires, he will return to quarterback the Titans again. It is his best and most appealing option, just as the Cardinals are Warner’s.
But now, with each quarterback, it’s a numbers game. If the numbers are fair, both teams and both quarterbacks win.
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