Surprise, surprise: Kolb's still here

Paul Holmgren had the right idea. The Flyers general manager blew up his roster, trading away both Mike Richards and Jeff Carter without so much as a whispered rumor before the news broke.

Boom. The team's captain and leading scorer were gone.

Compare that with the Eagles' Kevin Kolb conundrum, or even what Ruben Amaro Jr. faces during baseball trade deadline week. The expectation that a major deal is imminent turns fans and media impatient, almost petulant, when those expectations aren't satisfied.

So it was shocking - shocking, we say! - when Kolb wasn't traded to the Arizona Cardinals within nanoseconds of the clock's striking 10 a.m. Tuesday. Except, of course, that it wasn't. The long rumored deal that would bring the Eagles a cornerback and a draft choice was only that: a rumor. Here was a classic case of the media's pumping air into a balloon and then being surprised when it popped.

Indeed, the whole First Day Back madness wasn't nearly as mad or as exciting as advertised. With the lockout lifted, there was a lot of busy work to do: signing undrafted rookies, negotiating with draft choices, giving players physicals, dealing with training-camp logistics, and so on.

The NovaCare Complex had the feel of a community college on the first day of summer classes, not a packed bazaar buzzing with hagglers and hucksters.

The Eagles also have a possible crisis to manage. Quarterback Michael Vick made it sound as if teammate DeSean Jackson could hold out over dissatisfaction with his contract. That would be a mistake. Teams are overwhelmed this week. Lockout-fatigued fans are not going to be sympathetic. Jackson deserves to be better paid, but he's more likely to achieve that goal by showing up than by holding out. The Eagles' to-do list is pretty long at the moment.

Trading Kolb has to be near the top of that list. At this point, the Eagles are going to look ridiculous if they don't trade their erstwhile quarterback of the future - a future that never actually arrived. It is time to get something for him and move on.

That's the other advantage of Holmgren's close-to-the-vest approach. If he didn't like what was available, or simply changed his mind, he could have held on to Richards and Carter without looking foolish.

There is some urgency here. If the Eagles are able to get a player for Kolb, it would help to know who that is before the opportunity passes to address other needs in free agency. If they were to get the long-rumored Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, then they can focus their spending on the defensive line and other positions. If not, then they'd better throw some money at Johnathan Joseph or even Nnamdi Asomugha before the market closes.

Meanwhile, other teams are moving. Seattle, a possible trading partner, acquired Tarvaris Jackson to replace Matt Hasselbeck, who in turn will fill another spot. The Eagles have to get as much as they can for Kolb without overplaying their hand and winding up with nothing.

For example, it might just be unrealistic to expect a first-round pick for a soon-to-be 27-year-old quarterback who was a second-round pick himself. Kolbophiles point to his back-to-back 300-yard games. Realists note they came two years ago against two very generous defenses (the Saints improved vastly by the postseason, which ended with a Super Bowl win, from the defense the Eagles saw in September of '09).

Since then, Kolb has played enough that his flaws and strengths are both easily seen by potential suitors. The Eagles themselves couldn't have moved on to Vick any faster after Kolb got hurt in the opener last year. So it may be a bit unrealistic to expect franchise-QB return for Kolb at this point, especially when the world knows the Eagles almost have to move him.

Besides, first-round draft picks just became more valuable. The new agreement between the NFL and its players limits the bonuses and salaries paid to top draft choices. That change in the risk/reward equation makes those picks even more precious commodities.

Once upon a time, the Eagles traded a first-round pick to Dallas, the franchise most hated by their fans, in exchange for three later picks. They used the highest of those, an early second-round pick, to take Kolb - even though they were in position to contend that year and could have used an impact player rather than a long-term project.

Four years later, the Eagles have a kind of do-over with Kolb. With Vick now, as with Donovan McNabb then, they are in win-now mode. The Eagles would be better off getting a defensive starter for Kolb than a bunch of future draft picks.

The future isn't always what you expect it to be. No one knows that better than Kolb.