Thoughts on the latest McNabb buzz
Are the Eagles really concerned with making sure Donovan McNabb is traded to a place where he'll be happy? This would be a different thought process than we've previously seen with the franchise.
Thoughts on the latest McNabb buzz
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
Jay Glazer of FoxSports.com provided Eagles fans with their daily Donovan McNabb fix Saturday with a couple of pieces of new information on Twitter.
The nugget drawing much of the national attention is that the Redskins have inquired about McNabb, and the two sides went as far as to discuss players.
More on that below.
But the item that caught me by surprise was this:
It's hard to give #5 updates in 140 but team is trying to trade him someplace he'll be happy. Have offers but andy is trying to do him right
A short statement, and a Tweet so we'll try not to read too much into it. But doesn't the trying to do him right part pretty much go against every decision the franchise has made over the last decade?
Two sides here.
On the one hand, if the Eagles are going to make an exception for any player, in terms of caring where he lands after leaving Philly, it should be McNabb. He and Reid will forever be linked, and the Birds are right to give thought to where he spends the remaining years of his career.
But on the other hand, doesn't the focus of a potential deal have to be on the future of the franchise, and that alone? Don't the Eagles have to make a trade that puts them in position to have the most success going forward, even if that means sending McNabb to Oakland or Buffalo?
It's an interesting question. Given the way the franchise has operated in the past, you would think that it'd be a no-brainer. That they wouldn't think twice about sending McNabb to a place where he'd be unhappy if it was the best deal for the Eagles.
My guess is fans don't really care where McNabb goes. They just want the team to get the best deal. Let me know if I'm wrong here.
As for the Redskins angle, when I saw Glazer's first Tweet, I didn't think much of it. I figured many teams that haven't been mentioned publicly have at least "inquired" about McNabb's availability. But Glazer did update to clarify that Washington had more than a "mild interest."
Again, nothing is in the works here, and it's unclear when these discussions even took place. Count me among the masses who think it would be unwise to deal McNabb within the division.
Within the conference? I don't think that's as much of a hurdle. But to have to face McNabb twice a year and fill a hole on the roster of a division rival doesn't make much sense.
And finally, we have updated our list of Eagles draft prospect visits and workouts.
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McNabb was never the prototypical WCO quarterback that Jeff Lurie hoped to have lead the Eagles WCO. Lurie's insistence on a WCO oofense brought Reid to Philly. Reid brought McNabb thinking he could develop his raw athleticism into another Steve Young. Instead of building a McNabb friendly offense-Reid & Ownership have wasted his career thinking he'll play like Steve Young/Brett Favre. McNabb is more like Jim Kelly or Steve McNair: big string, mobile QB that needs a rushing game to maximize his impact. McNabb has played well in Philly. We should all wish him well.— Smashmouth
If Donovan McNabb was traded to the redskins his stats would drop very low. The Redskins offensive line is terrible and he would get sacked alot as well as throw alot of picks. Andy Reid needs to give donovan 1 more year to get the job done and then you can release him or trade him.— briandawkins20- McNabb to the Redskins make them a legitimate contender (go figure). Mike will play to his strengths and make the best best running game in the league again. Shannahan's offense will patch up the skill sets of the O-Line. If McNabb pairs up with Shannahan, the rest of the NFC East should watch out for the next 2-3 years.— JmH Reborn
- McCuses ! McCuses ! Trade that reciever killer to the skins !!!Trade him to the skins ! So we can beat up on him twice a year!! Just get rid of him!!!!— pjsroom
- first, mcnabb will never be traded within the division. that is ridiculous. second, of course the fans care where he ends up. our hopes for eagles football have ridden on his back for a decade now. aside from a small minority, we've grown quite fond of donovan. i can't say i care where the eagles beat writers and bloggers end up. hopefully in winnemucca, nevada to cover their sports teams.
- Sheil, let's face it. Donovan is old in terms of "Quarterback" years. I personally feel that the Eagles are just dangling him to see what he's worth, which at the moment, doesn't seem to be as much as they are asking. I think they are perfectly content on letting him play out his contract and then turning the reins over to Kolb. Same scenario with Vick, they want more than he is worth. The Eagles WILL carry three QB's if they have to and will target needs in the draft. All these rumor's about McNabb is just something to talk about until baseball starts.— flyerdup
- if they don't trade mcwaddle what makes everyone think he will be the starter? it's apparent management wants kk to take over and he will with or without mcwaddle. tough trade though. one year contract at 13m per and going on 34 with no super bowl wins. guy was really good from 99 thru 2004. second guessing shows should have traded him after super bowl choke. personally, thanks donavan for five great years.— JACK V
- Outside of the division, I really don't care where DM gets traded. He had some very good years, but he has certainly faded recently. Most importantly, he has lost a great deal of speed and not made up for that by gaining a new skill set, like accuracy or defense-reading.
- Yeah Donovan Really is losing skills and he really hurts the WR's, lets see including the playoffs in 2008 Donovan threw for 4808 yards, and in 2009 he threw for over 3500 yards missed 2.5 games, So yeah you STUPID EAGLES fans really make sense...... Morons...— DonovanistheEaglesallTimeGreatestPlayer
- Trade Dummyvan to the Deadskins? PLEASE! The Eagles FO isn't THAT dumb. Or....are they? That would be all the ammunition he needs to kill the Eagles!
- This all assumes that the Eagles are even trading McNabb. All you geniuses in the sports media didn't get one whiff of the Brown, Gocong deal even though Brown says he had been re-working his deal with the Browns for weeks. As for McNabb, there appears to be a lot more smoke than fire....you guys must all be desperate for headlines with it being a slow off-season. Kind of ironic that the same fans who think that McNabb "sucks", don't want to see him go to the Redskins because he might come back to hurt us.— JimG
- Joe Namath,Joe Montana,Johnny Unitas all moved to teams that with losing records and they are legends of the NFL,the Birds will trade #5 to what ever team gives the best deal,that will help the Birds,older QB's are moved all the time unless decide to retire (Troy Aikman),most will Not finish with the same team.— bigmama5
- Smashmouth - I couldn't have summed it any better. Reid's stubborness has under-utilized 5's talents by thinking 5 could be an accurate QB with the WCO. Oh, that and ignoring the 2nd-most important factor in the WCO (not giving him good receivers for most of his career). Too bad we can't fire Andy.— PhilCali
agreed Sheil. AR did McNabb right by giving him that 100 million plus contract, and I believe McNabb held his part of the bargain up. on my word, this is nothing against 5, but the Eagles have to do right by the organization and the fans. the goal is a Super Bowl win. McNabb is a man, he'll be fine...anyhoo, how the hell did the Flyers just beat the Detroit Red Wings?! I'll tell ya...— bboybeballin- The Eagles can't expect another QB to come along immediately to fill Macnabb's shoes. Not when you run the same pass crazy attack game after game with virtually ALL the pressure on the QB to make plays. Expect the Eagles to drop off to a sub .500 team— MJPD345
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