Detroit Lions and McNabb

[MURP]

article

It's worth it for Lions to nab McNabb
Friday, January 26, 2007

This week's Senior Bowl generated the first round of NFL Draft talk, and the consensus among NFL Network draft obsessive ... um, experts ... is the Detroit Lions should use the No. 2 overall pick to select Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn.

And that makes sense.

The Lions need a long-term answer at quarterback. Quinn is a polished player with a big frame and arm who has put up terrific numbers against top-flight college competition. One draft site calls him the most NFL-ready quarterback prospect to come out of college since Petyon Manning (which, if true, says a lot considering how Vince Young and Matt Leinart played this season).

But, still ... they loved Joey Harrington, didn't they?

The fact is, a college quarterback is always an unknown commodity until he proves he's not, which brings us to Donovan McNabb.

The former NFL Pro Bowler is suffering through a little mid-career crisis. He blew out his knee this season, and when veteran backup Jeff Garcia led the Eagles to the playoffs, Philadelphia's notoriously fickle fans and media began to wonder whether they might be better off with Garcia at quarterback than McNabb.

Yes, that Jeff Garcia, the one who flopped in Detroit.

Seriously, stop laughing.

There have been weird rumbles in Eagle-ville lately, with coach Andy Reid ordering McNabb not to travel with the team for a playoff game, then canceling a news conference the quarterback wanted to hold.

This led to a newspaper report suggesting McNabb is unhappy with the team, which Reid quickly refuted.


McNabb is, of course, a proven commodity. He has led his team to the Super Bowl. He has the physical tools and leadership makeup you look for in an NFL quarterback. He's one of the league's most admired citizens.

He's what every prospect like Quinn aspires to be.

You'd never trade a Donovan McNabb for Brady Quinn, would you?


The Lions should make a phone call and find out.

Maybe the Eagles believe in Garcia. Maybe they love Quinn or the No. 2 pick.

Maybe - for once - somebody besides the Detroit Lions is about to make a franchise-haunting mistake.

You never know until you make the phone call.

Maybe, as Reid insists, everything's fine in Philadelphia, but you sure wouldn't want to assume that and have somebody else come away with McNabb.

Yes, there would be major salary cap issues with McNabb's contract. Maybe you'd have to wait until June 1 - when the salary cap hit could be spread out over two seasons - to officially make the deal.

Yes, McNabb's knee is a question mark, and there's always the possibility that Brady Quinn turns out to be Peyton Manning.

But the truth is, Quinn won't bring back any of the people who've given up on this team. At least not until he proves he's more than just another Joey Harrington.

Donovan McNabb lining up under center in next season's opener is a different story.

A story that would make the Lions interesting again, that would get people talking again, one certainly worth making a phone call in hope of.

Jim Carty can be reached

at jcarty@annarbornews.com

or 734-994-6815.

[SunMo]

lol

[DH]

We should all flood this guys email box with the pink slip virus.

[Quasimoto]

Well with Millen at the helm in Detroit we could probably get at least 3 picks from them and a player. 

But I'd feel awful to trade McNabb to a team like Detroit.  Lets at least give him the chance to win again if we did ever end up trading him.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

lerskates

[SunMo]

i'd do it for the #2, Roy Williams, Shaun Rogers, and Dre Bly

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

The Eagles don't really *need* Roy Williams if they re-sign Stallworth!

!

[Mad-Lad]

you could rewrite that exact same moronic article while replacing the Lions with other crappy teams without good quarterbacks.

just because it worked in your Madden franchise, doesn't mean it has a shot in hell of happening.

great reporting Jim McCarty.

[MDS]

i want to go into football news hibernation until september.

[SunMo]

or at least until the Eagles don't do anything during free agency in March

[MDS]

Well see I no that they aren't gonna do anything. And that the draft will be full of "potential" and "project players." Hence, hibernation until the first game.

[SD_Eagle5]

If there were a team we could strike a deal with I'd want it to be the Lions, Millen's an imbecile so we'd probably clean house.

[Beermonkey]

The Eckel article is like a ball of shtein rolling down a diarrhea mountain.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

That turns me on more than Jevon Kearse turns you on.

[Rome]

lol

Times infinity.