Philly’s Quarterback Conundrum
Head Coach Andy Reid and the Philadelphia Eagles are rapidly approaching what could be a rather sticky situation at the quarterback position. Donovan McNabb has said he wants an extension and wants to finish his career as an Eagle. McNabb’s current deal still has two years left on it and 32 is not that old for a NFL quarterback. There have been plenty of quarterbacks who have played productive football into their mid to late 30s and statistically speaking McNabb is coming off of one of the best years of his career posting career highs in attempts, completions, and yards in 2008.
McNabb’s performance is not what presents the biggest issue for the Eagles at the position Kevin Kolb does. What to do with Kolb who was once seen as the future of the franchise when he was drafted in the second round of the 2007 draft after a season which saw McNabb suffer another season ending injury 10 games in only to have Jeff Garcia lead them on an improbable run to the playoffs by guiding the team to wins in five of its last six games. Reid’s decision to nab Kolb sent the rumor mill churning with everyone speculating that McNabb would be released and the team was going to go with Garcia for another year or two until Kolb was ready to take over. McNabb persevered and Garcia was let go so he could pursue a deal where he would get the chance to start.
The Eagles are coming to a point where they need to decide what Kolb’s future is going to be with the team. His contract expires in 2010 and with only 34 pass attempts and a 21.8 QB rating in his short career he really has not had a chance to show what he can do. His lone opportunity to show he was ready to take the team over when McNabb goes down ended in disaster when he completed just 10 of 23 passes and threw two interceptions in a blow out loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Just going by what he showed the world in the Ravens game he is nowhere close to being ready to be a starting quarterback in the NFL.
So what is a team to do? Pro Football Weekly is specualting in its latest The Way We Hear It column that while the Eagles still like Kolb he very well could become trade bait next spring if McNabb gets the extension he is rumored to be lobbying for. This supposition sounds very plausible. As long as Reid is the coach and the Eagles remain legitimate Super Bowl contenders I have a hard time seeing him switching jockeys this late in the game. Why cut ties with the only quarterback to lead you to the Super Bowl? Why go with an unproven quarterback who has yet to show he can produce at the NFL level?
If I had to place money on it I would bet that Kolb will be dealt for a couple of draft picks next spring, as we all know how much Reid loves to stockpile draft picks, and they will look at drafting someone in the first couple of rounds either in 2010 or 2011. Kolb is making noise about wanting to get a chance to play somewhere and is likely not going to sign any kind of a long term deal with Philadelphia as long as McNabb is still around. The Eagles would be fools to simply let him walk away if there is some real trade value out there for him.
Whatever the case may be there are two things I know for sure. One is that Kolb will get the lion’s share of snaps in the exhibition season and will most assuredly see plenty of action with the first team in an effort to showcase his abilities. Second is that we can be rest assured that he will throw more than 34 passes next season. One can expect to see plenty of him in blow out games.
