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Eagles' Lurie: Kevin Kolb era would have started in '09 if Donovan McNabb was tradable

BETHLEHEM - Such is the magnetism of crime and rumor that, in his annual State of the Winless address, Jeff-rey Lurie largely was spared a grilling on topics of real importance.

Jeffrey Lurie said Kevin Kolb would have taken over at quarterback in 2009 if Donovan McNabb had been tradeable. (David Maialetti / Staff Photographer)
Jeffrey Lurie said Kevin Kolb would have taken over at quarterback in 2009 if Donovan McNabb had been tradeable. (David Maialetti / Staff Photographer)Read more

BETHLEHEM - Such is the magnetism of crime and rumor that, in his annual State of the Winless address, Jeffrey Lurie largely was spared a grilling on topics of real importance.

Instead, the Eagles' owner spent most of yesterday's yearly press conference defending his decision to retain controversial ex-convict Michael Vick after Vick's latest indiscretion.

The trade of Donovan McNabb? The rise of Kevin Kolb? The looming labor issue that could shut down the sport? The possible change in schedule that could result in 18 regular-season games?

The debacles in Dallas that ended last season and denied the Birds a Super Bowl title for the 44th time in 44 years?

Sidelights.

Lurie, instead, reiterated that, after gathering the facts gathered by his team, the league, police in Virginia and Vick's probation officer, he saw no reason to dismiss Vick. This, 1 day after commissioner Roger Goodell finally cleared Vick of wrongdoing.

The issue concerned Vick attending his birthday party in Virginia Beach, some 40 miles from Vick's hometown of Newport News, the area where Vick's dogfighting and gambling crimes were committed.

Lurie professes a One Strike policy for Vick, who joined the team amid a firestorm of criticism last season. But this wasn't a strike. Vick checked his swing.

Then, briefly, it was on to more important, if less lurid, matters.

Such as trading the best quarterback in team history and making a division rival better.

"I don't see it that way," Lurie said of McNabb landing in Washington.

What he does see is how McNabb generally has been painted: a great guy and a good QB who didn't win the big one.

"The best quarterback the Eagles have ever had. Classy. Terrific in every way," Lurie said. "Did not win a Super Bowl. A very extraordinary decade, by any measure. Except for the lack of a Super Bowl championship."

Which made McNabb expendable even before the 2009 season if he hadn't been coming off a knee injury. Lurie made it clear that, had the Eagles received a sound offer for the unsound McNabb after 2008, Kolb would have taken over last season.

"Donovan, coming off the ACL, maybe didn't have the league-wide [market] value," Lurie said.

McNabb's market value in 2010: a second-round pick this year and a third- or fourth-round pick in next year's draft. That is "the value of a No. 1 pick," in Lurie's eyes.

So far, those picks have become second-rounder Nate Allen, projected to start at safety. Moreover, it cleared room for Kolb, whom the Eagles hope blossoms like Aaron Rodgers has after Brett Favre's bizarre and acrimonious departure from Green Bay 2 years ago.

"Like Green Bay did with Aaron and Brett," Lurie said. "It was the right timing to let the young quarterback really thrive."

He explained that Kolb's ascension was a natural "evolution," considering the team's philosophy of drafting promising quarterbacks and allowing them to learn while established veteran players play through their prime.

Should Kolb, a second-round pick in 2007, become a viable starter, he would be the first to do so under Lurie's reign. Neither Bobby Hoying, a third-round pick, nor A.J. Feeley, a fifth-rounder, developed as the Eagles hoped, though the Birds got a second-rounder for Feeley. McNabb took over as the starter in the 10th game of his rookie season.

McNabb went to six Pro Bowls and was the team's most important player through its best years; five conference championship games, a Super Bowl, 118 wins.

But Lurie said that the Eagles - in particular, coach Andy Reid - determined that, after 3 years of observation, Kolb is "more than ready."

And just as good: "There wasn't the feeling that we would drop off in any way."

Lurie allowed that the Eagles received no viable offers for Vick, either. And he insisted that he was unperturbed that Vick, firmly slotted as a backup in Philadelphia, lobbied for a trade to a team that would give him a chance to start.

Lurie likes Vick's competitiveness and confidence . . . but if such a team existed, Lurie said:

"If there's a part of him that thinks he is going to star for another team, bring them on. Let's see what they have to offer," he said. "That means we have asset value."

Apparently, in Vick, they had little asset value.

This was not the Jeff Lurie of years past, when Lurie spoke with a sparkling eye toward the playoffs. This was a Lurie embarrassed by Vick's actions, embattled by Texas-sized gut punches at the end of last season, anxious about the ongoing collective bargaining agreement issues that could paralyze the league next year.

An advocate of the move to 18 regular-season games with two preseason games - it's now 16 and four - Lurie knows that won't happen if the other labor snags are not worked out: rookie salary scales, pensions, stadiums, international expansion.

"This is a great opportunity to fix a lot of things," he said.

He could say as much about his team.

He knows his defense is suspect. He knows his offense has huge question marks along its line and under center.

Even in addressing the future, Lurie referenced the past.

"Very, very proud of the performance over the last decade," Lurie said of the McNabb years. "We have one remaining goal. That's to win a championship. And follow that with more. It's the sole obsession.

"If we can get to the championship game five times in the next 10 years, like we did the last 10, we're going to win some Super Bowls."