McNabb Trade: Right move but huge gamble

The fallout from the franchise-altering Donovan McNabb trade continues to trickle down and it is time I got my two cents in the discussion.  I have been on the bandwagon to ship McNabb out of town since last offseason so I’m not heartbroken over the situation however, I remain a bit shocked it still went down.

Make no mistake about it, Donovan will be the face of the last decade of Eagles football.  The last decade brought unheard of success to the franchise in the Super Bowl era.  Five NFC Championship game appearances and a trip to Jacksonville for Super Bowl 39 are the highlights of his career.  While Donovan was never able to deliver the Super Bowl title he so coveted he still accomplished a great deal for competing with sub-par receiving talent for the better part of the era.  He is one of the era’s better quarterbacks, while not on the level of a Brady, Peyton, Warner, Brees, or Favre he falls into that next category of very solid QB’s.

Now I have been listening to WIP and gauging a lot of the Internet chatter over the last few days.  I get the feeling that people were split on dealing McNabb or not but when it came to trading him within the division the majority was against the trade.  Now as for why I like the deal.

Leadership…Obviously I have never been inside the Eagles locker room to gauge the real feel on this.  However, perception is often reality and I just never got the impression McNabb was a leader.  The Eagles in this transitional stage need leadership more than ever and I do not believe McNabb provides that.  For all of the times I have stuck up for McNabb he has really made it hard at times with some his comments.  Have you ever watched a McNabb post-game press conference after some of the big losses…He has some really passive-aggressive ways of putting down teammates and coaches.  If you need recent proof just watch how passive-aggressive some of yesterday’s press conference was, it is pretty brutal to watch at times.

I am not saying for sure Kevin Kolb will be a leader but my perception is Donovan McNabb was not.  This can’t hurt in that aspect.  My first impression of Kolb was very positive from hearing his two interviews on WIP.  Driven, excited, and seems to get the passion of the Philadelphia sports fan.  He’s a coaches son so hopefully he takes some of those qualities into the game.

Why wait?..I have always felt this would have been McNabb last season as a Philadelphia Eagle anyway.  He is in the last year of his contract and the Eagles invested a high second round pick on Kevin Kolb.  The only reason you would keep McNabb this year is if you truly felt the Eagles were a legitimate Super Bowl contender going into next season with McNabb behind center.  I would say the chances of that are pretty slim given the major holes on the defensive unit so I think logically it is best to start the development of Kolb and see if they have their next franchise quarterback or if they have to go in another direction.  One thing is for sure, if you do not start Kolb on a regular basis you will never know what you truly have.

Now for the whole divisional thing.  Granted, that is tough to swallow.  The Redskins despite being the basement team for a majority of the last decade have been a tough out for the Eagles even with mediocre quarterbacks.  However, the Skins are still a team with a ton of question marks.  They have an ATROCIOUS offensive line and I would be stunned if an OT like Russell Okung is not their selection at #4 overall.  Their WR corp is pretty thin although I liked the development from Devin Thomas in the latter half of last season.  Chris Cooley should be the top target next season.  The Redskins have three running backs who have long had their best days in the rear view mirror.  Maybe they can find the fountain of youth for one of the running backs but I’m not sold on Portis/LJ/Parker.  McNabb will make some of these fringe players look better than Campbell could but he can only do so much.

Verdict…It was a necessary risk dealing McNabb.  The Eagles can use the fresh start and need to see if Kolb is the answer or if they have to look elsewhere.  Trading him in the division made this a huge gamble and they will have to add some major defensive talent in the draft to make this work right away.  They have the pieces to manuever in the draft now as they see fit and if they need to can trade up to get some prospects a bit out of their current range.