McNabb and Reid are staying put; So who is leaving?


With the Eagles' offseason starting about a month sooner than anyone had hoped, the fair-weather Philly fans are crawling out of the woodwork to shout their theories of doom and gloom for a team that just capped off an 11-5 season and its eighth playoff appearance in 11 years.

Apparently, our Hall of Fame (or at least borderline) quarterback is washed up coming off a season where he threw 10 interceptions, completed over 60 percent of his passes, and accrued the third-highest quarterback rating of his career.

Then there's the head coach who, after winning 11 games (the seventh time his team has won 10+ games) is a complete failure and must be fired immediately. It's time for a complete overhaul on this team as the spoiled fans can't seem to see the repercussions of what they're asking.

When a head coach and quarterback are unloaded in the same year, it will have an effect for at least two to three years down the road. It's not something a team can just do and then rebound in the next season, especially when the clamor for the backup quarterback is after two games of, let's be honest, only slightly above-average play.

So, bottom line: Reid and McNabb are not going anywhere. Reid has at least three more years and McNabb will be around for at least that long. Reid and McNabb are married now and will see this thing out until one or both retires, or they win a Super Bowl.

So, instead let's take a look at things that could actually happen.



Players on the Move Out of Philly

Every year there is some house-cleaning done of veteran players to make way for younger, or sometimes just more talented, players. This year will be no different as there could be a few surprise cuts or trades.

Brian Westbrook, Kevin Curtis, Shawn Andrews, Trevor Laws, Joe Mays, Sav Rocca and Reggie Brown are all guys who could find themselves on the chopping block. Westbrook, Curtis, and Rocca had their time but are slowing down, Mays and Laws are young guys who have been incredible disappointments, and Andrews and Brown are storied underachievers.

Then there are guys like Kevin Kolb, Michael Vick, or Sheldon Brown who could find their way out via trades. Kolb and Vick would probably like to start but, as I said, it will not be in Philly. If the Eagles get an offer for Kolb like the Falcons got for Matt Schaub a few years ago, he could be gone. Vick would probably command a conditional fourth or fifth round pick.

All of these guys should be worried about their jobs heading into 2010 and all of them should be making plans to deal with being cut or traded. It's a real possibility and wouldn't be a surprise, on my part, to see most of these names out of Eagle-green in the coming months.



Marty Mornhinweg Could Get a Promotion Elsewhere

Mornhinweg's name has been brought up very quietly in a few head-coaching vacancies and potential vacancies, so he could be jumping this ship to take control of his own very soon. The best bet was following Tom Heckert to Cleveland, but with Eric Mangini and staff being retained, that is no longer an option.

This is a move that I would welcome. Andy Reid is not going anywhere, so switching up the offensive coordinator would be a step in the right direction. Don't get me wrong, when it comes to preparing, teaching, and motivating the players there are few who do it better than Reid.

However, his playcalling has given me gray hairs and has caused more than a few occurrences of a Monday-morning sore throat. I'm a guy who believes in power football, so watching the Birds pass 50 times eats at me from the inside out.

If Mornhinweg leaves, Jeff Lurie should seriously urge Reid to go out and hire an offensive coordinator totally opposite of himself. If Reid hires a guy who believes in running the football, but can still follow Reid when necessary, it could result in a great balance for an offense in desperate need of it.



Fresh Faces in Certain Places

I'm not even going to try to opine who the Eagles may bring in to fill some need areas, but expect them to quickly address defensive end, linebacker, and free safety, with the offensive line, receiving corps, and special teams (punter and kick returner) getting a bit of attention later on.

This could be through free agency, the draft, or most likely both. Reid is usually very good at addressing areas of need the same way he targeted T.O. and Jevon Kearse in 2004, Asante Samuel in 2008, or even drafting Donovan McNabb with his first round pick in 1999.

The Eagles have seemingly been doing this every year (last year was Stacy Andrews and Leonard Weaver), so it seems likely they'll make some sort of splash this offseason as well.

I will go on record right now as saying I believe the Eagles will target and seriously pursue Julius Peppers to put across from Trent Cole. Personally, I don't think Peppers is all that great at right defensive end (outside of a contract year), but at left defensive end with Cole garnering a lot of attention, that could be a duo to dwarf even Dwight Freeney-Robert Mathis in Indy.

I know I said I wouldn't opine, but where's the fun in that?