It’s official: Matt Leinart’s days in Arizona have come to an end, as the Cardinals released the former first round pick on Saturday.

Leinart ends his career in Arizona attempting just 595 passes. He threw 20 interceptions compared to just 14 touchdowns and played in only 29 games in four years.

In other words, he’s the very definition of a bust.

The question now becomes who will give him a shot, because someone certainly will now that he’s free. No team was willing to give up even a seventh round pick and take on his salary, especially not when Arizona was expected to release him in final cuts.

The team that arguably makes the most sense is the Seahawks because of Leinart’s connection with Pete Carroll. Matt Hasselbeck is also on his final legs and although the team traded for Charlie Whitehurst earlier this offseason, his play thus far has some in Seattle questioning whether or not he can be the full-time starter someday. So why not throw Leinart into the mix when he’s already familiar with Carroll’s system?

The Bears are also seeking a backup for Jay Cutler and seeing as how they waived sixth-round pick Dan LeFevour (who is still a candidate for the practice squad), they may think about adding Leinart.

Of course, no matter where Leinart winds up, it doesn’t mean he’ll a) play or b) ever pan out. He still has plenty of time to turn things around, but he didn’t help himself in Arizona over the last week by complaining to the media about his situation. There are some serious doubts that this guy can lead.

Apparently nobody wants quarterback Matt Leinart.

Well, that’s not true. The Cardinals, Giants, Raiders and Bills don’t want him. I’m just assuming nobody else does either – especially in his current state.

This morning, there was a report released by ESPN’s Adam Schefter that the Bills, Raiders and Giants had discussed trading for Leinart, although it has been denied here, here, here, here, and here by various sources connected with those three teams.

But whether or not Schefter’s report holds any water (normally they do), the question is: Why would any team trade for Leinart right now? Everyone knows that the Cardinals want nothing to do with him (any team that chooses Derek Anderson over Leinart clearly doesn’t believe there’s much hope for the former No. 1 pick) and are likely on the verge of releasing him anyway.

So why not just wait?

The other issue here is Leinart’s contract. He’s set to earn $2.485 million in 2010 and $7.36 million in 2011, which isn’t something that another team wants to absorb right now if they don’t have to. And seeing as how he’d likely be a backup no matter where he lands, there’s no reason for any team to pay him that much just to watch him ride the pine.

If anything, Leinart will be cut and then he’ll catch on as a backup someplace else. The Giants and Bears would love to add insurance at the quarterback position and the Bills make sense just because they don’t know what they have in Trent Edwards.

But none of those teams, or any team that is even reportedly interested in him for that matter, is going to trade for Leinart right now. It just doesn’t make any sense.