The internet has been ablaze with some reports about a possible Donovan McNabb trade over the past few days and, really, the buzz is rightfully deserved.
McNabb is still one of the better quarterbacks in the game, but he has slowly started to chip away at the patience of the fans in the City of Brotherly Love. Year after year the Eagles have been contenders with McNabb at the helm, but have only made one Super Bowl and he choked on the grandest stage of them all. It has become apparent that if the Eagles are going to follow up on the Phillies’ success two years ago and actually win a championship, they’ll need a better QB than McNabb.
So, why not deal him while he still has value? The Eagles are asking for a top-42 draft pick – which is a pretty odd number – for him and really, that’s about what he’s worth to a QB-starved team. Would you rather roll the dice with a QB in the early second round of the draft, or pick up a proven commodity and have a shot at contending? McNabb could certainly help a team like the Raiders out, since, well, any sort of average QB would be a welcome improvement over bust-o-rama Jamarcus Russell.
But who would take over in Philly with McNabb departed? That role would fall to the Eagles second-round pick of 2007, Kevin Kolb. The youngster filled in admirably this season when McNabb was injured and showed that he could lead this team if given the chance. And really, when a team uses a second rounder on a QB, he should be given some sort of chance.
The Eagles also have Michael Vick on the roster and something has to be done there. Even in an uncapped season, can a team really be paying their third-string QB as much as Vick is making? $4.5 million is an awful lot to be paying a Wildcat QB.
One thing is for sure though, the Eagles willingness to trade McNabb shows they might be willing to move on. Whether that turns out for the best remains to be seen, but progress needs to be made and this would be a good start to it.