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As one of the most compelling player-team tugs-o-war continues to unfold in Green Bay, Rich Hoffman of the Philadelphia Daily News points out that the Philadelphia Eagles could be the next franchise to face a face-off with a long-term quarterback.
Donovan McNabb is entering his tenth season with the team, and Kevin Kolb was selected in the second round of last year’s draft. Eventually (or sooner), the Eagles could choose to nudge McNabb out, and install Kolb.
There are real differences between the two situations. For one, McNabb has never mused about retiring, and likely couldn’t be nudged into walking away from the game in order to insulate the Eagles from the potential embarrassment of watching McNabb win a Super Bowl with another team after the Eagles gave up on him.
But the point is valid. Any team blessed with decade-long stability at the quarterback position will at some point confront a future without the quarterback in question.
In Philly’s case, the Eagles created the situation by drafting Kolb in round two of the 2007 draft, which sent a clear message that he’ll be groomed to take over for McNabb at some point.
As time passes, the tensions will only increase — and ultimately could grow into an open pissing match between player and team.
July 15th, 2008 at 9:19 am
Or Philly could give Kolb limited game experience as a quality backup to McNabb, use him to carry the team if McNabb gets injured, and wind up trading him like they did AJ Feeley. But that wouldn’t be a story during a slow news cycle, would it?
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
July 15th, 2008 at 9:19 am
He will not retire. The Eagles may eventually trade him and he will be happy to go to a team with real receivers and a balanced offense.
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Rating: 3.2 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
July 15th, 2008 at 9:28 am
I agree that McNabb will be goen sooner rather than later. McNabb is a great quarterback. He’s not one of the best to ever play the game, at this point in his career, but he is great. However, he can’t stay healthy and, to top it off, the feeling in the Philly area is that he’s worn out from all of the drama. He’s had a turbulant tenure in the NFL. Does he get arrested and do things like Vick, Pac-Man, etc? No, but for some reason he’s drawn a lot of negative press, more than Carson Palmer or some of his peers. The fact that he hasn’t led the team to a championship may not be all his fault, but he is a piece of the puzzle, and, in the end, it makes Philly fans want more.
As a die-hard Eagles fan… I’d support a quarterback change if it gave us a better chance to win. Kolb hasn’t shown that to the fans yet, but he has played well. I am a Mcnabb supporter and former McNabb apologist, but I won’t cry if he is not an Eagle next year.
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Rating: 1.65 / 5 with 6 rating(s)
July 15th, 2008 at 9:30 am
Please….we do not need anymore Donovan or Eagles drama - real or fancied. Give it a rest. Let Green Bay and Dallas have all the drama this year….the Birds need to get back to playing football.
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
July 15th, 2008 at 9:31 am
this is one of the dumbest things i’ve read on this site. to date, there have been no conflicts with favre and aaron rodgers (that i have ever heard of) and rodgers is entering year 4 while favre is entering year 17. i think the only reason that thompson is pushing favre out is because, if i recall correctly (which is certainly no guarantee), rodgers was his 1st draft pick as the gm at green bay. the eagles situation with mcnabb is not even close to the situation in green bay. so long as mcnabb is the starter (again, if i recall correctly, andy reid’s 1st pick as coach of the eagles) there will be no problems. also, reid is a patient man with qb’s and i am sure feels no urgency to get him in the game any sooner than he feels he is ready.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
July 15th, 2008 at 9:38 am
here’s a clue. Kolb is not the answer.
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Rating: 3.5 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
July 15th, 2008 at 9:39 am
Who didn’t see this coming? The moment he signed that gigantic contract you had to know that he most likely wouldn’t be finishing his career in Philly. It’s the nature of the business. At the time in his contract when he is due the bulk of the money his skills will diminish…that spells trouble. Moreover, most atheletes tend to be the last to realize that their skills have diminshed.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
July 15th, 2008 at 9:45 am
“and wind up trading him like they did AJ Feeley”
Did I read that correctly? Kolb will not be traded in the near future when he was drafted to be the franchise QB. As an Eagle-hater, I do believe that Kolb will become the best QB of his draft class. I saw him play at UH and he looked like the real deal.
“McNabb is a great quarterback.”
McNabb was never a great QB. Good but far from great. Philly blinders have always been on with this guy. He’s done nothing that any QB considered ‘great’ has done.
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Rating: 1 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
July 15th, 2008 at 9:46 am
I am a McNabb fan. That being said, the reality is The Eagles drafted Kolb because of #5’s injuries and they have to protect their franchise. After all it is a business. (Also, I’ve heard that he’s too lax in the huddle, but I can’t substantiate that fact. Just look at how the team responded to Jeff Garcia 2 years ago). The Eagles are going into this year with 2 first round drat picks in 2009. If Donovan is anything less then 110%, if they start out the season with a losing record, Donovan will be benched and Kolb will come in and have to prove that he is the next face of the franchise. If neither of them can get the job done The Eagles are in a position to draft their next QB of the future. Those are the cold hard facts. Remember this is Philly, when the time comes for a change behind center it’s going to make the Farve controversy in Green Bay look like a day in the park.
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Rating: 4 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
July 15th, 2008 at 9:46 am
Mcnabb cant stay healthy, Kolb will be playing by game four of the regular season.
McNabb win a Superbowl! Thats pretty funny Florio!
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Rating: 1 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
July 15th, 2008 at 10:13 am
The two situations couldn’t be more different. Favre is loved in Green Bay. He gave them a championship. He never gets injured. McNabb couldn’t put it together to call signals in the biggest game of his life. He’s constantly injured and he’s a crybaby. Oh, and Favre’s parents don’t BLOG.
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Rating: 4.65 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
July 15th, 2008 at 10:17 am
What, is McNabb supposed to play until he’s 90? Maybe Reid chose Kolb the year he did b/c he liked him over the other QB’s that were picked/available in ‘06, ‘08, and beyond… Listen, if McNabb stays healthy, and in turn is back to McNabb form for 2008, we won’t be talking about him moving anywhere next year either, and what a classy mentor Kolb has to learn under while he grows accustom to the NFL. Comparing McNabb & the Eagles to the Favre fiasco confuses the hell out of me.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
July 15th, 2008 at 10:17 am
Major difference here is Mcnabb is well liked here regardless of the national perception but he is not an icon like Favre until he wins a superbowl so the team or Mcnabb will not be painted into a corner as to the fans going nuts or the team panicked about looking like morons for letting him walk. He might end up winning somewhere else but unless he wins the superbowl this year there will not be the total uproar like Favre.
It will be more like when Steve McNair left Tenn for Balt just a real good QB ending his time on a team.
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July 15th, 2008 at 10:23 am
The Eagles will have no trouble cutting ties with McNabb because they can. McNabb doesn’t have the psycho, cult-like following that Favre has.
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Rating: 1 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
July 15th, 2008 at 10:31 am
McNabb’s contract expires in 2010. Not a big deal. He either wins a Super Bowl in Philly within the next 2 seasons, or he’s gone.
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Rating: 2 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
July 15th, 2008 at 10:36 am
“here’s a clue. Kolb is not the answer. ”
Here’s a fact: Neither is McNabb and Kolb comes way cheaper than McNabb.
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Rating: 1 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
July 15th, 2008 at 10:43 am
“McNabb was never a great QB. Good but far from great. Philly blinders have always been on with this guy. He’s done nothing that any QB considered ‘great’ has done. ”
He’s “great” in Philly terms. When all is said and done, he will likely wind up being held in higher regard than the great Ron Jaworski and the great Randall Cunningham. If we were talking about another team, say the Cowboys or Steelers, McNabb would be hard-pressed to surpass the legends of Danny White and Neil ODonnell in the minds of the teams and their fans.
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July 15th, 2008 at 10:43 am
Perhaps McNabb could do a bit more with some wideouts that scare people.
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July 15th, 2008 at 11:02 am
“The two situations couldn’t be more different. Favre is loved in Green Bay. He gave them a championship.”
Desmond Howard says hi.
“He never gets injured.”
Yes he does. He’s been injured and played injured to the detriment of his team. Another example of the player being allowed to be bigger than the team. Every player in the NFL is highly competitive and if they can walk, they’re going to play until somebody sits them down for their own good and the good of the team. They even let him go back in a game after he was puking blood on the sidelines! Favre’s been existing in a vacuum for too long.
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Rating: 1 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
July 15th, 2008 at 11:13 am
Or Philly can hope McNabb goes via Bledsoe in N.E. That turned out to be a good deal, but Brady isn’t something that can be duplicated.
I’m not sure if anyone has seen enough of Kolb to say one way or the other if he is an answer. And the situation in Green Bay is much, much different than this one.
Thank God training camps start in the next week and a half to two weeks…
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July 15th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
I agree with enrgy2burn, this is the dumbest comment I’ve read on this site. I wonder what will be said if McNabb and the Eagles do go on to win the Superbowl, I guess they will move on to Jordan Palmer being groomed to replace big brother Carson then huh?
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
July 15th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
This “story” is the result of a slow news cycle… of having to much free time and working on the sports news market.
“Yeah!: lets talk about McNabb vs. Kolb… and then about the possibility of Pac-Man Jones and T.O. going crazy in strip joints. And if nothing is moving around the NFL we can always talk about WMDs and football stadiums!”
Get a hobby dude!
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July 15th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Vox, I despise the Eagles but for the overwhelming majority of McNabb’s career, the receivers have been doo doo. How many years was James Thrash their no. 1 option? Think of how screwed the Cowboys passing game would be if something happened to T.O., Glenn was still gimpy, and they were left with that loud-mouth choke artist champ and his butterfingers as the lead receiver.
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
July 15th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
His shoulder is good. He’s been challenged. 30 TDs 7 INT. Eagles 19-0 SUper Bowl here we come!!!!!!
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
July 15th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
I’m a big cowboy fan and if the dummies in philly don’t want McNABB trade him for Romo, the boys will be champs once again.Romo will never be the qb Mcnabb is. People in philly are just stupid.
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Rating: 3.75 / 5 with 4 rating(s)