Eagles Trade Donovan McNabb to the Redskins

The Philadelphia Eagles have traded longtime quarterback Donovan McNabb to the Washington Redskins for a 2010 NFL second round draft pick and a 2011 NFL third round draft pick.

Speculation has been running rampant for weeks about an impending trade of quarterback Donovan McNabb in recent days. However, it was thought McNabb was headed to the Oakland Raiders.

McNabb has been the Eagles starting quarterback since 1999. He has been named to the NFC Pro Bowl team six times, most recently in 2009. He led the Eagles to an NFC Championship in 2004 but fell short to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX.

Since their Super Bowl loss, the Eagles have made the NFL post-season three of the last five years but have not returned to the big game. In fact, last year the Eagles were decisively defeated by the Dallas Cowboys 34-14 in the first round of the 2009 NFL playoffs.

I think McNabb went as far as he was going to go in Philadelphia. He needed a change of scenery. The Eagles are also ready to hand the QB reins to Kevin Kolb.

Naturally, I wonder what Jim Antle, my editor at The American Spectator thinks about this development. Jim is also a big Washington Redskins fan. Sadly, Redskins fans have had little to cheer about. Since 1999, the Redskins have made the NFL post-season only thrice and in 2009 were an anemic 4-12. I am inclined to think Jim would be happy. Consider what he wrote about the Redskins after the passage of Obamacare:

The Democrats own this debacle. But the Republicans are, in football terms, like the Washington Redskins. They have an excellent defense and no offense.

On the other hand, as we all know, Rush Limbaugh is no fan of McNabb. I like Rush but he's dead wrong about McNabb and always has been.

Yet couple McNabb with ex-Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan and the Redskins are bound to be better in 2010. With that I await Jim's thoughts on the state of football in D.C.

UPDATE: Jim has posted his thoughts on the McNabb deal at the AmSpec blog. While he thinks McNabb got a raw deal in Philly he also believes "it is hard not to conclude that McNabb lost his last, best chance for a Super Bowl ring." Well, the NFC East is going to be a lot more interesting this fall.