The on-going Donovan McNabb trade saga has finally reached the end of it’s rope as the six-time Pro Bowler has indeed been traded by the Philadelphia Eagles.
Donovan McNabb is headed to the Washington Redskins in exchange for the Skins’ 2010 2nd round pick (37th overall), and either a 3rd or 4th round selection in 2011 based on performance.
The football world was split on whether McNabb was the Eagles’ guy, and whether it was time for the Eagles to move on with the younger Kevin Kolb.
Here at NFL Spin Zone, our stance has been clear from the beginning. It’s not very wise to trade a guy with the resumé of Donovan McNabb. He is a six-time pro bowler, a top 10 quarterback, a franchise quarterback, and has the potential to make the Hall-of-Fame. You just don’t trade that type of guy, and you most certainly don’t trade him within your division.
However, it was my belief that if the Eagles had no plans of continuing with Donovan past 2010 when his contract expired, you trade him now and get something out of him. That’s what the Eagles did.
The Redskins get an immediate upgrade at the quarterback position, and when you pair that with an up-and-coming defense, Washington may compete for the division title.
The Eagles, meanwhile, are stockpiling draft picks in what many experts believe to be a very talent-heavy draft.
Kevin Kolb will take the reigns of the Eagles’ offense for 2010, and he inherits one heck of a talented group. Kolb stepped in for a two game stint following McNabb’s broken ribs in week one of 2009 where he threw for back-to-back 300 yard games.
For the Redskins, new Head Coach Mike Shanahan now inherits the best quarterback he has worked with since John Elway, and we all know how that one turned out.
The man that was booed when he was drafted stood for all that is Philadelphia Eagles football over the past decade. Through the ups and the downs, McNabb took on the verbal beating from the city with a smile on his face.
He delivered five NFC Championship games, one Super Bowl trip, and the third best record in the league since he took over the starting job in Philadelphia behind only the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots.
Philadelphia is known for having it’s passionate fans, but what unfortunately goes along with that is a bit of over-reactibility. This is a classic case of just that. He couldn’t win the big game, but football is a team sport, and the Eagles fans will soon come to realize reality as the old saying goes, “You don’t know what you’ve got, ’til it’s gone.”
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