Kurt Warner likely to announce retirement?
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner has scheduled a press conference for this Friday, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.
As Schefter points out, it's unlikely that a player who schedules a press conference only a few weeks after the season ends will announce that he's going to play the next season.
Many believe that he's a borderline Hall-of-Famer, but his statistics and his groceries-to-MVP story make him a HoFer to me. He was named MVP of Super Bowl XXXIV in addition to being named league MVP during the 1999 and 2001 seasons.
Warner compiled career stats of 32,344 passing yards, 208 passing touchdowns and 128 interceptions in addition to winning Super Bowl XXXIV with the Rams. He ranks 26th all-time in passing yards and touchdowns.
So assuming that Warner won't be under center in 2010, that means the Cardinals' starting quarterback will be Matt Leinart, their former first-round pick, or they will trade for or draft another quarterback this off-season.
In the past three seasons as Warner's back-up, Leinart has completed 57.8 percent of the 218 passes he's thrown. During that span, he has thrown only three touchdowns and eight interceptions.
With Leinart under center, the fantasy value of the Cardinals' wide receivers including Larry Fitzgerald takes a hit.
In either case, I would rate Houston's Andre Johnson ahead of Larry Fitzgerald. If (when) Warner retires, I would then move Fitzgerald down a couple of spots in the receiver rankings to fourth or fifth.
