Retirement decisions and McNabb
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Retirement decisions and McNabb
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
Generally speaking, I can't stand stories about retirement decisions.
Like many of you, I never click on those headlines and wait until late August to find out who is actually calling it quits.
But this offseason, the retirement stories will carry a little more weight to this crowd.
Specifically, we're talking about Kurt Warner and Brett Favre.
Why? Because as we beat this Donovan McNabb/Kevin Kolb thing to death, the question that always arises is: Which teams could be interested in McNabb if the Eagles decide to shop him?
And invariably, the Cardinals and Vikings are mentioned as possible destinations.
Now, if those teams are interested in McNabb, will they press Warner and Favre for decisions earlier than usual? If Favre and Warner drag their decisions on, should we take it as a sign that those franchises have no interest in McNabb? Or maybe that the Eagles aren't shopping him?
Some things to keep an eye on, along with a couple other dates:
One is April 22. That's the NFL draft.
The other is May 5. That's when the Eagles owe McNabb a $6.2M roster bonus, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.
As for the other quarterbacks, ESPN.com's Rick Reilly came away from an interview with Warner convinced that he's going to call it quits.
"It means I pray that God takes away the desire in me to play this game," Warner told Reilly. "I've loved it for so long. I need Him to take that away from me, so that I can be comfortable with this decision."
Favre told ESPN's Ed Werder that he's "highly unlikely" to play again. Obviously, that means nothing. He just turned in one of the best performances of his career. I think Favre will get the itch to give it another go.
Anyway, we'll keep an eye on the retirement stories as the offseason continues and, when appropriate, try to project how they could affect the Eagles.
So you can go ahead and continue to ignore those headlines elsewhere.
SI.com's Peter King mentioned McNabb and Kolb in his Monday Morninq Quarterback column:
Lot of buzz about whether the Eagles will go with Kevin Kolb or Donovan McNabb as the QB of the future. Only one man knows for sure. The Big Man. Andy Reid. He says McNabb, but why do I think that's a tepid endorsement?
It's interesting to note that King is one of the only (maybe the only) national writer who seems to support the notion of the Eagles dealing McNabb and going with Kolb.
Yesterday we posted 10 observations on each of the championship games:
Sheil, the Eagles will NOT trade McNabb to a NFC team. You can rule out the Cards and Vikings. They're not stupid to make the Cards or Vikings contenders again by giving them McNabb. They will take less in a trade to send him to an AFC team. It will be like the Packers trading Favre to the Jets.— soulman386- hey, maybe mcnabb will retire and the eagles can trade for warner... oh well, i can dream....
- Favre will announce his retirement then announce his unretirement in time for training camp. By then, he would asked to be released from his contract with the Vikes and sign with the Bears...— palmyra21
- Why not trade him to the Vikings! NFC championship Klob vs McNabb, then we'll see who was right!
- I like the kid on the Jets, Sanchez. Good reads, has tight spiral. Look for him to be one of the better NFL QBs.— wil
- At least we don't have that Qb that has that terrible playoff record, you know the one that people always seem to bring up when you talk about McNabb's playoff failures. Who's his name??? Ohh yeah Peyton Manning.... LOL— jamurf
- Agree with Soulman, really sucks cuz I'm sure both teams, especially Childress, would offer a nice little package for Don but he's not going to an NFC team, let alone a very good one that the Eagles could see in the playoffs. Vick is another story, he could go to whoever offers the best package but I think Don/Kolb would only go to an AFC team and Big Andy would just use the Cards/Vikes/Rams offers as leverage. Thinkin the Bills as the likely landing spot if dealt but my god, would Marv really make a new coach deal with the Donovan-TO reunion? Poor guy.— Funboy
- Buffalo seems a more likely destination for McNabb than an NFC team.— paolibulldog
Comment removed.- Why would we want to trade him to a team that does not have good draft picks (Cards, Vikes)? Trade him to the Raiders who will give up two 1st round picks for this season and next year. We know they will stink both years! Even one first rounder this year and a second rounder next year would be good. If not them, then Buffalo is also a good fit...— sima_down_nah
- So we need to speculate about who will retire so we can create speculation about whether the Eagles would get rid of McNabb and then speculate which teams we would trade McNabb too? Yawn...don't you guys (local sports reporters) get bored of doing this every single off-season? Can't you find anything else to write about during the off-season? McNabb said emphatically that he doesn't want to live and Reid said emphatically that McNabb isn't going anywhere. What is the point of asking these guys about this stuff if you're just going to ignore their answers and write what you want anyway? Then you guys wonder why they don't like talking to the local media, lol. Out of ideas for stories? Here's some ideas for you. You could write about the draft needs of the Eagles, players that are supposed to be available around our 1st round draft slot, talk to the players who are on IR or going to need off-season surgery and find out about their status and rehab, talk to the young players and find out what their off-season plans are to improve their games, talk to any of the several other talented players on the team besides McNabb and do an in-depth piece on them. Really, anything that involves actual research, analysis and thought other than just pulling nonsense out of thin air would be great.— JimG
- Afer reading these posts all I can say is wow...— SecondToNone
- amen JimG. the local press is an anathema. they only exist to pile whatever nonsense they can think of to bring more eyes to the paper, because if they do not then they get fired. integrity comes in a distant second.— barrywil
- at least you know espn and nfl net work etc would love the Mcnabb TO thing to happen again and Buffalo would definately be in the spot light— jt2211
- McNabb has a significant hand to play in this. he's on the last year of a contract. He needs to want to resign wiht the team that the Ealges are negotiating with. All his agent needs to do is float the idea that Donnie won't sign wiht a rebuilding franchise, and your list of perspective bidders is greatly reduced and the price tag goes down. Team is not going to give up a high # 1 pick for a 1 year Qb rental for a team that isn't winning a chamionship anyway. Only to have #5 leave in free agency and sign with the team of his choice. he is going to leave here with an enormous chip on his shoulder and want to prove that he can win Championship. How many teams are a QB away from championship contention. Answer that and you'll know what the birds bargaining position will be.— gee1971
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