Those Philly QB's

I'm a firm believer in trying to turn negative situations into positive results. Putting myself in Howie Roseman's shoes, I can see a way to turn Kevin Kolb's concussion into a windfall for the Eagles. This assumes that Michael Vick lights it up against a bad Detroit Lions team on Sunday, which seems likely. If he does, and Kolb is cleared to play on Monday, I would be making several phone calls. The first would be to Jeff Garcia telling him to start working out in earnest. The second would be to all the GMs out there saddled with dogs at quarterback. We all know how Vick treats dogs, and I'd be offering to let Vick kick theirs to second string status for a price. Then I would let the bidding wars commence. (If Vick needs to play another week, this just gets pushed back to the next Monday).

I can hear you now. Trade Vick? Are you crazy? He should be starting the rest of the season. First off, the Eagles didn't trade Donovan McNabb to make way for Michael Vick to be their quarterback. It is Kevin Kolb's job unless and until he unconditionally proves he is a bust. A half game doesn't do that. He needs to suck for at least an entire season, if not two, before Andy Reed will admit he made a mistake and draft another QB. By that time Vick will be long gone, playing for some other team with no compensation at all to the Eagles. Plus, I am not yet convinced that Kolb is a bust. Keep in mind that Aaron Rogers only won six games his first year as a starter.

Trading Vick accomplishes two important goals. First it gets the Eagles a draft choice, perhaps even a high round draft choice, which goes a long way towards justifying the awful choice they made in signing him in the first place. Second it takes a lot of pressure off of Kevin Kolb, who has enough to worry about without looking over his shoulder every game wondering when Vick will be trotted in to replace him. Garcia can be brought in as an insurance policy who is experienced enough to replace Kolb for a couple games if he gets hurt again, but old enough that nobody will be pushing to have him permanantly made the Eagles QB.

I can even give you the name of the team you should call first. Imagine how much better the New York Jets would be with Michael Vick at quarterback instead of Mark Sanchez. This is a team that is a mediocre offense away from a possible Super Bowl appearance. With Sanchez, their offense is just plain bad, but with a scrambling Mike Vick, they may well be good enough to keep up with their defense. Don't you think Rex Ryan might be persuaded to part with that late first or second round pick for the chance to get to the big game? Considering that Vick is gone at the end of this year no matter what, that Jets pick will look awfully good in Eagles green.

So there you have it Howie. You're the new GM in town. Prove to us you have the same sized cojones that Ruben Amaro has. Trading Vick would probably not be a popular move amongst the Eagles nation, but it would be the right move for the team. It might even help get the Eagles out of the Philly sports doghouse.