McNabb Moves Forward

If there is one NFL team that has been successful in cutting ties with players almost immediately before they lose value and plateau, it’s the Philadelphia Eagles. However they too make mistakes. With the trading of Donovan McNabb, the Eagles let go of a franchise quarterback who led them to 5 NFC Championship games in eleven seasons. This may be a big mistake.

It’s simple to just assume the Eagles were ready to move forward in a different direction, perhaps look to begin a new era. As many franchises do in several sports, this makeover could mean the team just felt the window of opportunity closed. The Detroit Pistons blew up their roster in 2008 after their team went to several Eastern Conference Championship games. Their GM, Joe Dumars, felt the team had hit flat ground and key pieces were dealt and let go.

As McNabb continues to age, the Eagles may have also felt his production was only going to decline, and with no intention of paying the quarterback big money, the only solution was for McNabb to cash in out of town.

Kevin Kolb has been introduced as the new starter to replace McNabb. The Eagles interestingly traded McNabb to a rival team. Many inside sources say this is not at all surprising from McNabb’s camp considering he seemed unhappy he was traded to begin with. Thus he wanted to control his destiny. Allegedly McNabb threatened to retire if he was to be traded to Oakland, and ultimately he selected the Redskins who already brought in Hall-Of-Fame coach Mike Shanahan.

The decision may be one the Eagles regret. As they did last year, they want to avoid paying their older stars big money and essentially they simply let them go. Brian Dawkins was a victim of this last season after the Eagles refused to resign him. Dawkins later found great success in Denver proving he still had a lot of ball to play. McNabb looks to do the same thing, and lucky for him, he will have multiple opportunities to do so against the Eagles.

McNabb made sure to reference his new coach Mike Shanahan during his recent press conference. He spoke of Shanahan’s experience and how he worked with John Elway in the later stages of Elway’s career. Two Super Bowl rings were the result. Finding success with McNabb is something Mike Shanahan can accomplish, and winning a Super Bowl is something McNabb can certainly still achieve, especially if it comes at the expense of the Eagles who left him for dead.