Plenty of people have had plenty to say about the Eagles’ decision to trade quarterback Donovan McNabb to the team’s division rivals in D.C.
Few have been as outspoken in favor of the Philly side of the equation as Brian Baldinger of NFL.com.
Said Baldinger (via Sheil Kapadia of philly.com): “The Eagles should be ecstatic. I view McNabb as a flawed player, and it was never more apparent than in the back-to-back losses to the Cowboys last season. His flaws will never go away. Now, the Eagles get at least two chances to expose the same flaws they’ve been covering up for 11 years. It works against the Redskins that McNabb is still in the division. Andy Reid can finally stop covering up for one of the most overrated quarterbacks in the history of the game. The Eagles will go to the playoffs. The Redskins will be watching from the golf course.”
Meanwhile, and as Redskins coach Mike Shanahan happily pointed out today, smiling like a cat that is slowly digesting a fresh canary, McNabb took the Eagles to five NFC title games in his 11 seasons. Before McNabb’s arrival, it had been 20 years since the Eagles had played for the privilege of going to the Super Bowl.
Whether Reid or McNabb were responsible for those successes remains to be seen. The fact that the Eagles shipped McNabb to a rival will definitely make McNabb more motivated to prove that he had at least some responsibility for the good times.