According to Adam Shefter Donovan McNabb was traded to the Washington Redskins for a 2nd round pick this year and a third or fourth round pick next year. At the theoretical level it's all about production if the newly minted starter Kolb is better than Mcnabb (I'll even say over the next 2-3 years) it's a plus to trade Mcnabb. If Kolb is worse then it's a bad trade.
Now at first glance the trade is really perplexing as the Eagles decided to trade McNabb to the Redskins rather than Raiders . However it turns playing for the Raiders might be the worst job in professional sports and the Eagles decided to reward a loyal employee by not sending him to Siberia. Yeah I know crazy ethical nonsense. What is this Sweden? Hats off to Andy Reid for treating McNabb well although it might end up biting the Eagles (which I suppose is the definition of an ethical decision). Anyway shocking to say the least......
4 comments:
Kolb is going to have to be pretty great from Day 1 for this trade to make sense to me because the Eagles are basically saying that they'd rather risk a 10-loss season than be guaranteed a 10-win season. That kind of thinking makes no sense to me, not when you have a top-10 QB playing high quality football for your team.
As to the whole "reward a loyal employee" thing, I don't believe that for a second. You don't reward a loyal employee by humiliating him consistently for the better part of an entire decade and then try to sell it as a solid favor. Anyone that believes the Eagles did McNabb a favor by not trading him to Buffalo or Oakland is buying into PR bullshit here. The Eagles couldn't get exactly what they wanted from other trade partners and they had no choice but to trade McNabb based on a number of factors including picking up Vick's option and not wanting to pay $6M in roster bonuses to McNabb next month.
The Eagles traded McNabb to the Redskins because that was the best deal they could get. If they could've gotten a deal they could live with out of the Raiders or some other team, I guarantee you that personal feelings wouldn't have trumped the Eagles' obligation to do right by their franchise.
As for the Redskins, this is a no-brainer move. Instead of spending the 7th pick on a QB, the Redskins can now draft the best offensive line prospect available to them in order to help protect their big investment under center.
I think this is a bold move for the Eagles, but if you look at their other moves this off-season, dumping McNabb seems to fit the plan.
They have dropped 12 players (either by trade, release, etc) and most of these players are over 30. The current Eagles roster only has one player over 30 (a D-lineman who is 31). So, it seems that the new GM is moving towards a younger team, that may or may not be competitive this year, but has a true plan for the future.
I think that in line with this plan, they'd rather crown the new king of the offense (Kolb) now, so he can be fully groomed in a year or two when the rest of the team begins to flourish.
So, I think this works for the Eagles. Obviously, not ideal for this year, but seems like the right move.
I also think the Eagles are doing the right thing. As Laz said, they are basically starting over, and have faith in Kolb and/or the insurance policy of Vick. the other thing is, if the Redskins gave the best offer, than rationally, the best thing to do is to accept it and not worry about the fact that you play them twice per year.
I agree w MJ on this one. The Skins need help on the O-Line and QB pickings are slim this year. They picked up a solid vet QB on the cheap and now should focus on protecting Jason Campbell (or a future QB) plus actually block for Portis.
The only thing that puzzles me is why trade within the division? Even if it's the best offer?
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