McNabb trade places spotlight on Kolb

The Philadelphia Eagles have decided that the time has come to get younger, and they have finally been able to find a taker for Donovan McNabb and his hefty 2010 guaranteed salary. It is easy to dismiss McNabb as having been unable to get the Eagles over the ultimate hump, but trading him to division rival Washington while handing the keys to the Cadillac over to unproven Kevin Kolb is more than a little bit risky. Players as competitive as McNabb tend to enjoy the opportunity to prove to their former team that they made a mistake by letting them get away, and you can rest assured that McNabb will be supremely motivated when he squares off against the Eagles next year wearing a Redskins uniform.

McNabb’s destination comes as a surprise to many NFL insiders. When you combine the success that new Washington coach Mike Shanahan has had throughout his career, coupled with the addition of McNabb, a potential future Hall-of-Famer, you have to wonder if the Eagles just might be looking up at the ‘Skins in the standings when the season is in the books. The Eagles are also losing veterans Michael Westbrook and Brian Dawkins, and Kolb has started all of two games in his career. He did become the first quarterback in history to throw for more than 300 yards in his first two starts while filling in for an injured McNabb last year, but one of those games was against a pitiful Kansas City Chiefs defense that was ranked 30th in the league.

All you can say about a situation like this is that time will tell, and the 800 pound gorilla in the room is former Pro Bowl quarterback Michael Vick, who ironically remains an Eagle while his early benefactor McNabb has moved on.