What the Donovan McNabb Trade Means For Brett Favre

Sunday's trade of quarterback Donovan McNabb from Philadelphia to Washington was a real surprise to many people.

It was surprising that the Eagles were serious about trading McNabb. He's only 33, a franchise icon, and the leader of five Philly teams that made the NFC Championship game. He's really good, in other words, and is likely the best quarterback the team has ever seen.

It was even more of a stunner that they were willing to trade him within the division. The idea that I got out of things that have been said and reported since Sunday's announcement was that McNabb preferred the Redskins to any other team that was looking at making a trade. The Raiders might have, in the end, been willing to offer more for McNabb, but McNabb didn't want to play there.

(Can you blame him?)

So give the Eagles some credit for shopping McNabb to a division team because that's what McNabb wanted. They didn't have to do that, as these aren't like hockey and baseball contracts, where even marginal players like Derek Morris can somehow procure a no-trade clause. But the Eagles, a pretty classy organization, did as right by McNabb as they could.

(Reports were that he wanted to go to Minnesota or Arizona, but neither team was interested.)

This leads us to one of those teams. McNabb's interest in the Vikings was reported over a week ago.

Frankly, I never took it that seriously, because the Vikings would have to have an answer from Brett Favre before they moved forward with McNabb. They weren't going to take on McNabb when he would potentially be an $11 million backup who had a near-$7 million guaranteed to him in early May.

Sunday night, Twin Cities media personality (sorry, couldn't get a better term to describe him by the censors) Patrick Reusse tweeted his feeling on what the McNabb deal meant for Favre's future.

McNabb to 'Skins makes it official: Vikings know Favre's coming back. Just waiting for last offseason session to pass before announcement.

Reusse might be right. It wouldn't surprise anyone if this was true.

However, we have no way of knowing right now. Favre apparently told LaDainian Tomlinson he had "no idea" if he was returning. If this widely-believed conspiracy theory was true, why would Favre do that, when telling the truth could mean the difference between the Vikings adding Tomlinson or missing out?

(They missed out. He signed with the Jets.)

Does McNabb going to Washington mean anything for Favre?

The answer is likely "No," though that won't stop people from trying to draw a connection between the two.

The dots just don't connect naturally.

That said, look for Favre to fly from Mississippi to Minnesota around the same time in August that he did last year, and look for the fan response to be extremely similar.

McNabb Wants to Play For Vikings; Feeling Likely Not Mutual

It's seemed kind of silly to think that the Philadelphia Eagles would carry three pretty high-priced quarterbacks this season. Donovan McNabb, Kevin Kolb, and Michael Vick aren't cheap, and they can't all play, because of that whole "one football per play" rule we have in the sport.

With that in mind, there has been talk of a trade, probably involving the veteran McNabb. That would free Eagles coach Andy Reid to start Kolb and use Vick as a change-of-pace/wildcat/jack of all trades player, and he wouldn't have to have all three quarterbacks active to get that kind of use out of Vick.

So where would Philly trade McNabb? The obvious answer is "Somewhere in the AFC," so they wouldn't have to deal with him more than once every four years, or in the preseason when it doesn't count anyway, or in the Super Bowl.

That doesn't mean McNabb, who doesn't have a no-trade clause but should still wield some power over his destination, wants to go to the AFC.

Remember when the Packers traded Brett Favre? It wasn't just about getting Favre away from the Packers. It was a process that had to be somewhat respectful toward Favre, given his service time and the fact that he was a star player.

McNabb, according to a Philadelphia newspaper, wants to play for the Minnesota Vikings if he gets traded.

After Andy Reid announced Wednesday that the Eagles were "entertaining offers" for all three of their quarterbacks, McNabb reiterated that he wants to remain in Philadelphia. But if the team were to ship its franchise quarterback elsewhere, the Vikings would be his first choice, according to sources close to the situation.

Whoa.

Multiple thoughts on this:

• Is there a snowball's chance in hell the Eagles would trade him to a team already high among NFC playoff contenders?
• If so, why would the Vikings want him?
• Oh, yeah, what if Brett Favre retires? Hmm ... Tarvaris Jackson or Donovan McNabb? Let me think about that for 0.48 seconds.
• Can the Eagles afford to wait until Favre actually retires or doesn't retire?
• If Favre retires, the Vikings get McNabb, and then Favre unretires, what happens?

As you can see, there are multiple layers of manufactured drama that can come along with this story. The problem is that they're all manufactured, meaning they're fake. Not real.

Also not happening.

The Vikings aren't going to coerce Favre into a quick decision, either because they already know he's coming back and are trying to play coy with the world, or because they don't want to poke a sleeping bear and risk pissing him off and "forcing him into retirement" like the Packers did*.

(* - If you still blame this on Ted Thompson, you should be beaten with the stick the Packers allegedly poked the sleeping bear with.)

Even if Favre "made up his mind" and "retired," no one would believe him, and the Vikings would look stupid if they tried to "move on" after all the talk about letting Favre take his time.

In the end, Philadelphia is going to have to find a trade partner and talk McNabb into embracing the deal. There is no need for lingering bitterness here, and no reason to drag it out publicly. Find a team, talk to McNabb, and convince him to go there and work hard and be the face of that franchise. He's young enough that he can help a struggling team become successful again. He doesn't have to be dropped onto the roster of a contender because he's on his last legs.

For the Vikings, the thought of Brad Childress practically begging Favre for a quick decision is intriguing, but unrealistic. They've talked too good of a game lately about letting him take his time and doing what they did last year. Given the success of last year, no need to deviate from that plan now.