McNabb says he's staying with Eagles

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - A source close to Donovan McNabb told the Eagles quarterback he had been traded yesterday.

Former Eagles receiver and current ESPN analyst Cris Carter couldn't have been more than 10 feet away from McNabb when he delivered the news.

"I heard you just got traded to St. Thomas [Aquinas] for two number ones and future considerations," Carter told McNabb after the NFC finished its first practice for Sunday's Pro Bowl at Sun Life Stadium.

St. Thomas Aquinas is the high school where the NFC practiced yesterday, and Carter is an assistant coach there. That he could joke with McNabb about being traded is proof the subject, as usual, has both national and local appeal.

McNabb, for his part, continued to maintain that he isn't going anywhere. The Eagles quarterback wouldn't discuss what Andy Reid told him during his exit interview after the team's playoff loss to the Dallas Cowboys, but he indicated that his coach told him at some point the same thing he said to the media the day after the season ended.

Reid has said twice that he expects McNabb to be his quarterback next season.

"That's all that matters," McNabb said during a one-on-one interview with The Inquirer. "I heard it when he said it to you guys, but I heard it before anyway. I think a lot of people look too far into things with all the assumptions and this could happen. He told everybody I'm going to be there, and I'm his guy. I don't see anything that anybody should look into."

The looking and speculation, of course, will continue. Minnesota became the latest seemingly possible trade destination for McNabb because Brett Favre is saying that he's unlikely to return for another season with the Vikings. No chance of that story changing, is there?

St. Louis and Arizona are on the list, too.

"I don't even get into that . . . until that would happen," McNabb said when asked about the speculation. "I love being in Philly. I've been there 11 years, we've had a lot of success over the years, and I don't believe in starting somewhere and going somewhere else to finish your career.

"I believe in starting somewhere and finishing what you started. My goal was to win a Super Bowl and bring it back to Philadelphia. I think they deserve it. We've given them some great years, but we haven't been able to finish. I think good things have to happen pretty soon."

McNabb acknowledged that his backup Kevin Kolb is probably getting antsy having spent the last three seasons as the quarterback in waiting.

"I'm sure he is," McNabb said. "Who wouldn't want to play? Kevin has worked extremely hard, and he's a good quarterback. He can make plays. They've seen that, everybody has seen that. We all can make plays, but it's a decision that someone is going to make, and whatever the decision is we'll go from there and see what happens."

McNabb and Reid are the lightning rods for disappointed fans every time the Eagles fall short of a Super Bowl title, and the electrical storm becomes more intense with each passing year.

The quarterback insisted that none of that bothers him.

"I let other people think about that," McNabb said. "For me, the grass being greener is really what field you're playing on. When you're in Philadelphia, obviously, there are ups and there are downs. I've been a part of it for 11 years, so I don't let it affect me."

McNabb has one year left on his contract. Unlike a year ago around this time, McNabb did not lobby for an extension or raise. He received a $5.3 million raise without an extension last June. Attempts to reach McNabb's agent, Fletcher Smith, yesterday were unsuccessful.

"I don't think we should really focus on that," McNabb said. "I love playing the game, and that's what it comes down to. I am under contract for another year. We don't know what's going to happen in 2011. We just don't know. If I have to come back and play [in Philadelphia], hey, that's great, I would love to. I love this team, and I love being around these guys and competing. I think good things could happen for us."

The 2011 season is uncertain today for McNabb because he does not have a contract, but also for the NFL and its players. The NFL exercised an option to reopen the collective bargaining agreement, and some people suspect the league will lock out players for the 2011 season if the two sides don't reach a new deal.

As for McNabb and the Eagles' on-field future, he said he believes the Eagles are close to being a Super Bowl contender, despite the two end-of-the-year losses to Dallas.

"We're not far at all," he said. "We went on a six-game winning streak, we made good things happen with an explosive offense, the defense came around, everybody started playing well, and then those two games hit, which is unfortunate, but it happens. For all of us, we have to refocus on what we have to do to come back strong next year, put it together and hopefully find ourselves wherever the Super Bowl is."