During the compressed free-agency period last summer, it looked as if Matt Leinart would be reunited in Seattle with Pete Carroll, his coach from USC. Houston made an eleventh-hour pitch to the quarterback, though, and convinced Leinart to stay with the Texans.
The Seahawks felt burned (although their signing of Tarvaris Jackson sent a discouraging message to Leinart), and the situation didn't work out as planned for the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, either. Leinart appeared in two games in 2011 after Matt Schaub suffered a season-ending shoulder injury. In the second of those, a Week 12 start against Jacksonville, he sustained a fracture in his throwing shoulder that ended his season.

