Heh! --> "Key for 49ers: Having Cardinals' Warner retire"

[madinmaryland]

From the San Francisco Chronical:

Not all of the 49ers share the religious faith of their coach, Mike Singletary, but they might be leaning that way in the coming days. Kurt Warner's wife, Brenda, says the quarterback's decision on retirement will be "between Kurt and God."

Warner's call will be as important to the 49ers as any of their own this offseason. They seem to own the Cardinals (winning both matchups this season), but the Cardinals own the division, and that's not going to change if Warner comes back and plays a full season without serious injury.

Even the most loyal Alex Smith fans have to admit that when Warner has the Cardinals' offense in full gear, as it was in that wildly entertaining playoff win over Green Bay, it's a far cry from the 49ers' chip-away passing game.

Warner is uncannily accurate, he is a master of every type of throw, he has excellent receivers (even if Anquan Boldin doesn't return), and all of his critics have disappeared. He now seems a lock to make the Hall of Fame.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/19/SPDK1BKE9Q.DTL#ixzz0dAb9Irrd

[Auggie]

1. Yeah -- it's maddening

If the lead was "Alex Smith maturing as winning QB" or similar it would signal the 49ers are poised to take over the NFC West. As it is, the poor draft choices by the inept front office over the past ten years has resulted in hoping for the retirement of star players on other teams. Bad, bad, bad...

If Warner calls it quits we might see 8-8 win the division.

[JonLP24]

2. I disagree with the article

Warner does not make or break or the Cardinals. I doubt Singletary even cares if he does come back considering the 49ers are 4-2 against the Cards with Warner as QB in the last 6 games so they are probably more concerned about winning the other games.

Honestly I'm not concerned about the Warner situation because I'm 'ok' with Matt Leinart. Kurt Warner underachieved with the receivers he has and he's had some really ugly games this season but overall was solid.

What I am concerned about is holding on to other key players and adding solid players to key positions. Most importantly is Boldin. He is a better receiver than Fitzgerald outside the red zone because he is YAC beast. Go back to the last few years and Boldin has a better YPCatch and YPGame. He is the 2nd fastest player in history to 500 receptions and 5th fastest to 7,000 receiving yards. When they get into the red zone the Cards target Fitzgerald far more often which is why Larry has more TD's. I'd love to keep them both.

I'm the most concerned about is adding another solid CB to cover the other side of the field with Rodgers-Cromartie. McFadden and Adams just aren't going to cut it.

Darnell Dockett is still playing on a lousy 3rd round pick contract and he could parlay this season where he led all DT's in sacks.

Karlos Dansby is a big part of their defense but it looks like he'll be gone. The Cardinals haven't expressed any interest in keeping him and they're traditionally cheap and have let stars go. Leonard Davis for the Cowboys is a good example, mad.

About the 49ers they have young rising stars in Crabtree, Vernon Davis, and Patrick Willis. They also have the #13 and #16 overall picks in the draft so they could really stack up on some young talent.

Since I don't trust management to make the right decisions I feel the 49ers will win their division next year even with Warner, if the Cards do make the right decisions specifically on the defensive side of the ball and keeping Boldin they could win with Leinart.

[Auggie]

3. You know your team better than I

There's no substitute for experience though. Warner may have won a game or two this year that Leinart might not have.

[JonLP24]

4. Oh definately

Leinart is no Warner that's for sure. I feel Leinart could start for a few teams and he looked good in limited action. I feel 'ok' with Leinart. I'd love to have Warner for another season only if he continues to play at a high level.

Warner wasn't as good as he was in 2008 but still solid. What I'm worried about is if that is a continuing trend and he plays worse in 2010 and sets them back for another year or two in regards of the QB position and not giving Leinart valuable game time experience.

[Auggie]

5. The age-old dilemma of the back-up QB n/t.