ALAN FANECA SIGNS WITH ARIZONA

So much for Alan Faneca becoming the next player on the Steelers' 2010 "Back to the Future" roster.

The nine-time Pro Bowler, cut over the weekend by the New York Jets, quickly reached a deal to join the Pittsburgh West Cardinals, joining old coaches Ken Whisenhunt and Russ Grimm and former teammates Joey Porter and Clark Haggans.

Unless I'm missing something, the Cardinals were down to only those two linebackers among Steeler castoffs. As far as the other ex-Steelers, Brian St. Pierre is a free agent and recently tried out to be Tom Brady's backup, Jerame Tuman and Dan Kreider are both without a team, Sean Morey is suiting up for Pete Carroll in Seattle, and Bryant McFadden is back in Pittsburgh.

But back to Faneca, whose new deal is for one year, $2.5 million - a far cry from the five year, $40 million deal he landed with New York in 2008, when he looked first for a place where he could win. Apparently a 4-12 team fit the bill at the time; besides, it's not like he walked away from the Super Bowl 43 champions or anything.

This time around, Faneca's refusal to take a pay cut takes him from the chic team in the AFC to a question-mark of a Cardinals squad in a topsy-turvy NFC West that's seen the import of Pete Carroll and Sam Bradford, among others, over the past few months.

The Cardinals' active offseason has seen them wave goodbye to a bevy of productive veterans, including Kurt Warner, Anquan Boldin, Antrel Rolle, Karlos Dansby, Bertrand Berry, Jerheme Urban, Neil Rackers, and Morey. They've added Porter, Derek Anderson, Kerry Rhodes, Paris Lenon, Rex Hadnot, Jay Feely, Dominique Byrd, and Dan Williams to help fill the holes, and will keep their fingers crossed that Matt Leinart can live up to his pedigree at QB. But that seems like an awful lot of roster turnover in one offseason; I guess they figured one more big splash couldn't hurt.

Adam Schefter [Twitter]

Email your feedback, questions, and tips Mondesishouse@gmail.com