It was a good day for the 49ers.
Their best player will not play in the Pro Bowl, thus he will not subject himself to unnecessary risk in a meaningless game. And the one team from the NFC West that has finished with a winning record the past two seasons lost its best player.
Quarterback Kurt Warner announced his retirement today. Without Warner, the Cardinals have a great deal of uncertainty at the most important position on the field. Warner threw 26 touchdown passes and ranked 10th in the NFL with a 93.2 rating.
Presumably, Matt Leinart becomes the Cardinals starting quarterback. He started 11 games as a rookie in 2006. He started five games the next season, and had just one start the past two years.
Compared to the other teams in the NFC West, the 49ers enter this offseason with stability at quarterback. And they also have the youngest presumptive starting quarterback in the division, as the 49ers’ guy is one year younger than Leinart.
Hasselbeck is scheduled to make $5.75 million in the final year of his contract, while Bulger is on the books for $8.5 million in 2010.
Here is a look at the quarterbacks on the other NFC West teams:
Cardinals: Matt Leinart, Brian
Seahawks: Matt Hasselbeck, Seneca Wallace, Mike Teel
Rams: Marc Bulger, Kyle Boller, Keith Null, Mike Reilly
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