Are McNabb and Kolb really not available via trade?


According to ESPN's Sal Paolantonio, multiple league sources have told him that the Eagles' front office is telling respective callers that neither Donovan McNabb, nor Kevin Kolb, are available for a trade.

But of course, reading between the lines, that simply means that they're not available for anything less than the Birds' asking price. There's not a player in the league who's not available via trade, but the offer would have to be outstanding -- and it would have to include a first round pick.

"Three years ago, the Eagles were asked about McNabb's availability, particularly by the Minnesota Vikings. At that time, the Eagles killed the market by setting the price too high: two first-round NFL draft picks," Paolantonio wrote.

"Today, McNabb has diminished in value. Among NFL front-office executives, the talk is that the Eagles will want at least a first-round pick, but no one has heard a price from South Philadelphia."

The Eagles aren't going to give a price, either. They will sit back and see what teams are willing to offer. Unless it's a first round pick and perhaps some mid-round picks as well, the Eagles will not feel compelled to trade McNabb.

Adam Caplan of Scouts.com also said that "this is the first year Andy Reid is willing to listen to trade offers for Donovan, but it's got to be at least a first-round pick."

We love Caplan, but saying that this is the first year that Reid is willing to listen to offers just isn't true. As much as Reid loves McNabb, he loves a good deal even more, and would have pulled the trigger if someone blew his doors off. It's like that for every player, and every coach, and every team.

If a team called up the Indianapolis Colts right now and offered two first round picks and other considerations for Peyton Manning, the Colts would at least stay on the line. I'm not sure they'd do it, but they'd listen to the offer.

But of course, there's always at least one person throwing fuel on the flames by randomly making guesses that will get the most traffic, and not actually basing it on anything substantial.

Enter John Clayton.

"I honestly think Donovan McNabb is going to be traded," Clayton said. "A lot of this has to go with Brett Favre, and at some point, knowing Favre will wait until August to make a final decision, I think the Vikings have to make a move. That's why McNabb makes the most sense.

You can maybe offer a second-round pick, hope to avoid a first-round pick. But I do think the Eagles would be interested and certainly the Vikings need him because to replace Favre you have to have a star and McNabb can be that star."

But what Clayton is forgetting is that there is no way that McNabb goes to an NFC team, if he's even traded at all. The Eagles do not have to move him, they don't feel compelled to move him, so they certainly won't take whatever mid-level deal the Vikings throw at them.

Clayton clearly understands he's being pushed out by the combination of Chris Mortenson and Adam Schefter, so he's saying anything he can to get people to listen.

"I think they're not going to have any other choice but to release Michael Vick mainly because I think it's going to be hard to get a trade," Clayton said. "Certainly, I think you can see St. Louis as being an interested team if he's released. There's an outside chance of Buffalo, I'm not getting great vibes from Buffalo that they are going to be a Michael Vick team.

But overall, he's going to find a new location. I don't see him going back to Philadelphia. He needs a new challenge. He could end up in St. Louis."

See what I mean? The man is clueless. There's no way the Eagles just release him. They signed him because they knew they could get his value back up and pull a mid-round pick for him from a quarterback-needy team. They didn't flip that house just to give it away to charity.

My gut tells me that McNabb is staying, Kevin Kolb will probably resign to a modest deal, and that Michael Vick will end up in St. Louis.

McNabb, I believe, will get a contract extension after this season -- barring some sort of incredible meltdown. It took John Elway 15 years to win a Super Bowl, it took Bill Cowher just as long as a coach, so I think Reid and McNabb would like to say that, if it takes them that long, that they did it together.

I believe that as long as McNabb's play doesn't decline that he'll be an Eagle. I'm not sure what that will mean for Kolb, but I just don't see him uprooting No. 5.