Donavan McNabb could be playing for his fourth team in two years
By DAVID LEBLANC
Staff Writer
The Minnesota Vikings waive veteran QB Donavan McNabb on Thursday. What does this mean for the 35 year old’s career? Will it come to a halting and anti-climatic ending, or will another team give him yet another shot to prove his worth.
Not that McNabb needs to prove anything, the six time pro bowler is without question a future Hall of Famer, yet why do people doubt him. With this recent move McNabb has completed his stent with a third team in only two years.
Has McNabb reached the point of retirement? Or will he be a hot commodity on the waiver pool; much like when 29 year old Kyle Orton was dropped by Denver.
When Kyle Orton was released from the Broncos multiple teams were interested besides just the Chiefs. The Dallas Cowboys as well as the Redskins wanted the young QB. However, with McNabb one thing is for sure, the Redskins will not be putting a waiver claim for him.
When people evaluate McNabb’s performance over the past two years what can we determine? Since leaving the eagles in 2009, McNabb has been splitting time between the bench and the field. With coach’s like Andy Reid and Mike Shanahan do we see trend.
Andy Reid is without question one of the most well respected and smarter coaches in the League. Not to mention he is a QB coach as well. With this said, we can see that Andy Reid was not only willing to let his veteren QB leave his team, but allow him to be traded to a division rival.
What kind of picture does that paint? Does that look like coach Reid had solid faith in is QB, no not at all. After being traded to Washington, the anticipation for McNabb to make a theatrical run to the playoffs with the broken Redskins was highly regarded as one of the season’s biggest happenings.
However, after week four or five, the fans at FedEx field began to loose sight of not only playoff hopes, but they lost sight of McNabb as well. After losing yet another game, Coach Mike Shanahan, who also has a very prestigious image, sat the Veteran QB and decides to play Rex Grossman. Shanahan’s explanation was that McNabb has no idea how to run a two minute offense. In other words, the six time pro bowler was unaware of how to play his position.
Finally he was picked up by Minnesota. This was without question, where he would prevail and be victorious. With a solid running back for the first time in his career, McNabb and Peterson were eyeing the Super Bowl.
Furthermore he had receivers like Percy Harvin to throw to. This was sure to be a force to be wrecking with. But much like his other two teams, this would also come to an unfortunate end, with no great victories.
With prestigious coaches like Reid and Shanahan turning their backs to McNabb, fans begin to see that unfortunately Donovan’s career may be coming to a drastic close. As coaches, it is there job to evaluate what is best for their team and their chances of winning.
Both Reid and Shanahan decided that McNabb was not the solution. So does it mean that another team in search for a QB will claim McNabb? For instance, the Indianapolis Colts or maybe the Miami Dolphins could be interested. But how long will that last with College QBs like Andrew luck and Matt Barkley coming up to the plate?
The future for this once great Quarterback is still unclear. He may sign as a back up for a team like Dallas or Arizona. Or he may just retire. At this point the answers are not known. However, when the facts are evaluated, one must conclude that unfortunately the veteran is most likely finished as a starting Quarterback in the NFL.
Yet one day we as sports fans will see him in the NFL Hall or Fame.
