Leinart reunites with Palmer, Knapp in Oakland
Quarterback Matt Leinart signed with the Raiders. A seventh-year veteran, Leinart spent the past two seasons with the Houston Texans before being released in March.
In Oakland, he's expected to be Carson Palmer's primary backup - a role he is familiar with. Palmer and Leinart both won the Heisman Trophy at Southern California, with Leinart one of Palmer's backups in 2002. Raiders offensive coordinator Greg Knapp was also Houston's quarterbacks coach the past two years.
The other quarterbacks on the Raiders' roster are Terrelle Pryor and Rhett Bomar.
Leinart took over the Texans' starting job when Matt Schaub was lost for the season on Nov. 13, then suffered his own season-ending broken collarbone the following game. It was the same injury that ended his 2007 season with Arizona and led to the reemergence of Kurt Warner.
Leinart is a Santa Ana, Calif. native who went on to win the Heisman Trophy while leading Southern California to a national title in 2004, and left the Trojans with a 37-2 career record.
He was the 10th overall pick of the 2006 NFL Draft by Arizona, but started only 17 games in four seasons with the Cardinals.
Leinart has started 18 of 31 career games, completing 57.6 percent of his passes with 15 touchdowns and 20 touchdowns for a 71.6 passer rating.
