By FRANK WARD
DailyPhiladelphian.com Editor
A week ago, Larry Fitzgerald mentioned Kevin Kolb as someone he hopes the Cardinals go out and get for him this offseason. This week, on WIP, Kolb didn’t do anything to deflect that talk. Thanks to Yardbarker for the scoop.
“If he’s not the best than he’s one of the best WRs in the NFL, a superstar, for a guy like that to say something about me it means a lot. Awful flattering and if something happens I hope their name comes up.”
Kevin Kolb openly praying to the Gods above for a trade out of town.
While Kolb rightfully wants to be dealt since he’s staring at another season of playing backup on the Eagles and he’s not getting any younger, don’t bank seeing the Eagles No. 4 anywhere else.
Yes, it’d be the right thing to do for Kolb. Sure, some pundits such as SI.com’s Don Banks think the Eagles must move Kolb for strategical reasons.
But, it doesn’t make sense. Not right now, anyway.
First, there is no CBA going forward. Therefore, you don’t know what the rules will be. You do not know if the franchise tag will absolutely exist. Basically, you don’t know for a fact that Michael Vick is guaranteed to be an Eagle.
Second, even if he is, you need a solid backup in the NFL and especially if a guy like Vick is your starter. Dude is small and gets hit too much. We all saw injuries catch up to him this year.
As a result, you need to make sure you have a guy with some NFL experience who is comfortable and capable of performing in your system. Without a CBA, the Eagles can’t find someone to replace Kolb. Say a new deal isn’t struck until June or July. Then, you would have a few weeks to find someone and train him in your offense. Unless Koy Detmer comes out of retirement, forget about that.
Even if the Eagles were offered a first round pick straight up for Kolb, the chances of them making the deal are not as great as some think they would or should be.
Typical Eagles stupidity. While no one knows what the new CBA will look like, the NFL is not an organization with a history of making radical changes, so the smart money is bet on a final result that is much the same as the current CBA, with a few tweaks here and there, depending on which side wins or loses the little skirmishes. The big, well-publicized issues, such as the 18-game season, are nothing but bargaining chips. So, if the Eagles do not move Kolb this year, the strong probability is that he walks without compensation before the 2012-2013 season. Trying to franchise-tag Vick is equally stupid. He greatly improved his abilities as a passing, defense-reading QB last season, no question. However, he still has significant weaknesses in that regard, with no guarantee (or imo reasonable expectation) of continued improvement of the same magnitude. It was obvious that opposing defensive coordinators had figured out how to take away his strengths and exploit his weaknesses pretty effectively by the end of the regular season, and in the playoffs. The Eagles will continue to need to optimize their offensive game plan for Vick. When (not if) Vick goes down, his backup had better be someone who can thrive in that same offensive style (which will apparently continue to feature ineffective pass blocking.) Kolb, who I think has tremendous upside, does not meet that criterion. Finally, based on polls that I saw just prior to the SB, Vick is among the three NFL players who have the most negative name recognition, and are reviled by large segments of fans and the general populace for their repugnant off-field behavior. I guess that Jeff Lurie must have secret research indicating a huge potential season ticket market among those who view butchering dogs and spreading herpes for amusement as good, clean fun. On the other hand, how much intelligence can one expect from a front office with such poor planning skills that it was forced to turn its (failed) offensive line coach into its defensive coordinator? A coach, btw, who hasn’t coached any defense in nearly 20 years, and whose experience then was limited to HS and junior college linebackers. In spite of some impressive skill players on offense, look for this franchise to continue at the same level of success or (most likely) decline.
-GMan
Kolb isn’t even a starter at this point, so if Philly gets a 3rd round offer, they better jump on it. No way he is worth anything higher.