Norv Turner, Charlie Whitehurst’s coach in San Diego, compared him to a young Trent Green, who became a two-time Pro Bowl pick for the Kansas City Chiefs after starting his career with the Washington Redskins and St. Louis Rams.

“Pete [Carroll] did a good thing,” Turner said.  “They evaluated a guy that’s ready to compete for a job and ready to go play at a high level.”

Whitehurst, 6-4, 220 pounds, has yet to throw a regular-season pass.

“We had two good guys, so I think it’s worth taking a shot on him,” Turner said of Whitehurst.

Arizona Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt also had strong interest in bringing in Whitehurst to compete with Matt Leinart before losing out to Seattle and instead signing Cleveland Browns castoff Derek Anderson.

“Arizona wanted Charlie every bit as much as Seattle did,” Turner said.  “It’s a good thing for us.  And I think for Charlie.”

Whitehurst has some of the traits Houston Texans coach Gary Kubiak saw in Schaub when he pried away Michael Vick’s understudy with the Atlanta Falcons in 2007.

“While it is risky, what you’re talking about is getting a guy with a little seasoning who has been a pro the way we did with Matt Schaub,” said Kubiak, who swapped 2007 first-round picks and surrendered two second-rounders to Atlanta in the Schaub deal.

“Anytime you can get a guy who is past that rookie situation and understands how to prepare in the NFL and how to work to get ready to play, that’s important.”

Trent Green?  Hardly.

During his time in Washington, Green played in 16 games and when he moved onto St. Louis the plan was for him to be the star of the Rams until he blew his knee out and introduced the world to Kurt Warner.

It’s crazy to think that Brodie Croyle was chosen just four spots after Whitehurst after the 2006 NFL Draft.  With there being a mini-bidding war for Whitehurst, you would think that if Croyle was seen to have any real potential as a starting quarterback the Chiefs could have squeezed a third-round pick out of Arizona.

For the record, Croyle completed more passes against the Chargers this season (1) than Whitehurst has his entire career (0).

The New York Giants agreed to a five-year, $37 million deal with Rolle.  Rolle is guaranteed $15 million and will receive $22.5 million over the first three years.

“I’m ecstatic,” Rolle said in a statement released by the Giants.

The signing fills a major need for the Giants, who lost Kenny Phillips to a serious knee injury early last season.

Arizona, which also lost linebacker Karlos Dansby to Miami late Friday, released Rolle on Thursday because it wanted to avoid paying him the $4 million roster bonus and the $8 million salary he was due.

However, the battle for Rolle came down to the Giants and Cardinals, and Rolle chose New York after visiting with the team most of Friday.

In 68 regular-season games, 59 as a starter, he had 12 interceptions, four forced fumbles and 1½ sacks.  In six postseason games, Rolle had an interception and a fumble recovery.

Along with Boldin and Dansby, Rolle led the charge of available players that Todd Haley was familiar with from his days in Arizona.  A lot of the trouble Kansas City had at safety last season would have been immediately taken care of with Rolle in the fold, but Clark Hunt was never going to go near those guaranteed dollars, preventing the Chiefs from ever being in the hunt.

Scott Pioli has said the Chiefs would be very active in free agency and could do it — just like last year — without any big name free agents.  After a flurry of activity throughout the first day, it sure looks like that will be the case.

This team can get better without bringing in top shelf free agents.

Right?

Arizona is closing in on a long-anticpated deal to trade Pro Bowl wide receiver Anquan Boldin.  Leading contender: Baltimore.  KC also in.

Meanwhile, the NFP believes the New England Patriots are the favorites to land Boldin.

The Baltimore Ravens have been heavily pursuing Boldin, but the Patriots lead for Boldin’s services at this point.

Nothing is done right now, but the Patriots are regarded as the leader in the Boldin sweepstakes.

The Ravens and Patriots and other unknown teams are jockeying for position in trade discussions with Cardinals general manager Rod Graves.

This one would hurt to be on the wrong side of if you’re the Chiefs.  Not only because the receivers were such a problem last year, but it looks like virtually every big name will be spoken for without any even seriously considering Kansas City.

I’m not trying to suggest that big names are going to win games, but the Chiefs roster is in dire need of a big time addition and Boldin would be that and more.  He knows what is expected of him when playing for Todd Haley and his presence would alleviate a lot of the pressure that is on Dwayne Bowe.

5. Kansas City Chiefs – OT – Russell Okung – Oklahoma State

If [Eric] Berry should get this far, the Chiefs would be the benefactors, but Okung seems like the right fit in the right spot for Kansas City.  The Chiefs have tons of needs, but in Okung they would be getting a franchise left tackle, allowing them to shift Brandon Albert back to his more natural right tackle position.

26. Arizona Cardinals – QB – Tim Tebow – Florida

This one is pure projection on my behalf, but hear me out: Tebow’s rough week at the Senior Bowl notwithstanding, it’s only going to take one team to fall in love with him to make him a low first-rounder.  Why the Cardinals?  If Kurt Warner retires Friday as expected, does anyone think Arizona has 100 percent confidence in Matt Leinart at this point?  And we already know Ken Whisenhunt doesn’t mind playing two QBs in the same game, because he did it with Warner and Leinart in 2007.  As rough as things were for the Cardinals defense in the playoffs, that side of the ball probably should get first-round attention. But for now, we’re sliding our Tebow chips to Arizona’s square.

First of all, why do so many people keep saying Branden Albert’s natural position is right tackle?  If anything, his natural position is guard, where I think he would be incredible.  I’m not saying the Chiefs need to move him off of left tackle, but if they do he could be special inside.

I also love how Tebow to Arizona is “pure projection”.  Isn’t a mock draft by definition a projection?

With that being said, it’s not the craziest idea that he ends up in the desert.  Remember, Tebow is — for better or worse — the anti-Leinart.  Leinart was the polished passer from the pro-style offense that would take the NFL by storm and Tebow is the prolific system quarterback that will not be able to transition to the NFL.  And then there is the off-the-field stuff, but that’s a whole other story in itself.

While I’ve had my eye on a team at the top of the second round getting jittery and trading into the back of the first round for Tebow, the idea that a better team could take him is an interesting line of thought.  The Tebow emails I have received that aren’t telling me he has no chance in the NFL have brought up New England, Minnesota and even Philadelphia as dark horse landing spots.

Beisel, an eight-year veteran, was with the Cardinals from 2006-08 before signing with Kansas City in the offseason.  He appeared in three games with the Chiefs before being cut on September 29th.  The Chiefs filled his roster spot with former Cardinals teammate Leonard Pope.

In 113 career contests, including 19 starts, the linebacker has registered 4 1/2 sacks, two interceptions and 201 total tackles with Kansas City, New England and Arizona.

The Cardinals also re-signed defensive end Jason Banks and linebacker Pago Togafau to the practice squad, while releasing defensive tackle Antoine Holmes and another former Chiefs Jed Collins.

I’m shocked it took Beisel two months to find work.  He’s no superstar, but you never have to worry about his effort, especially when it comes to special teams.

It’s good to see him land in a place that he’s clearly comfortable.

Castille was most recently a member of the Arizona Cardinals.  The 5-11, 238-pound Castille played 14 games in Todd Haley’s offense in 2008.

The Chiefs replaced one of their most dynamic offensive players with a guy that has a total of 11 career yards from scrimmage.

With Todd Haley needing his running game more than ever, look for Castille to help pave the way for Jamaal Charles and Kolby Smith.

Long spent his entire rookie season on the Cardinals practice squad under the offensive guidance of Chiefs head coach Todd Haley in 2008.  Similar to Wade signing with the Chiefs active roster yesterday, Long brings a since of familiarity with him to Kansas City.

Long made his NFL debut on Sunday in Arizona’s season opener vs. San Francisco.  He played on offense and special teams, but did not record any statistics.  He was waived by Arizona on Monday.

Long originally entered the NFL as a rookie free agent in 2008 with Arizona.  The Mississippi State product played in 35 games (seven starts) for the Bulldogs after transferring from Toledo following his freshman season.  He recorded 46 receptions for 321 yards (6.98 avg.) with a TD at MSU.  He also contributed on special teams with one punt return for four yards and eight kickoff returns for 100 yards (12.5 avg.).

The team released WR Rodney Wright from the practice squad to complete the transaction.

Once he was waived by the Cardinals, I immediately received emails saying he would be the perfect fit to join Haley’s system.  There’s a reason Chiefs fans are the best, because they were all dead on and Long is in Kansas City.

Long made a team with a good offensive unit out of training camp, but he didn’t exactly shine during the Cardinals final preseason game.  While trying to field a punt, he lost his balance and fell backwards.  He also was called for a holding penalty that negated a long run a couple of plays later.

Haley is comfortable with Long and that should help him push for a call-up to the active roster if the wide receivers that have been in Kansas City continue to struggle and/or Wade doesn’t catch on with the system.

“I still believe Anquan will be traded before training camp.  I hope to work together with the Cardinals to resolve this situation by then.”

Oh, boy.  Just when I thought the Boldin-to-be-traded talk had died down, Drew decides to make sure it stays on the top of everyone’s mind with a quick tweet.  Besides the discussion of how Twitter can/will change the way sports figures communicate with the public, how about Rosenhaus making such a bold comment?  Not that anything that comes out of his mouth/I-Phone is surprising, but the level of certainty in his statement definitely struck me.  So if he is so sure Boldin will be traded the next question becomes: Are the Chiefs interested?  I still don’t believe Scott Pioli wants to be in the Anquan Boldin business.  And not just because of the draft picks it will cost, but also the amount of years/dollars he will have to shell out to keep Boldin happy.  Not to mention this is all assuming Boldin and Todd Haley both really want to work together again.  Let the discussion begin again!