And it's over. After three years of living in Donovan McNabb's shadow, one off-season of being billed as the quarterback of the future, thirty actual minutes as the Eagles' starting signal caller, and many months of speculation about his future, the Kevin Kolb saga has ended in Philadelphia. The Birds predictably traded their top pick in the 2007 Draft to the Arizona Cardinals, where we hope he will not have a long and illustrious career of knocking his old team out of the playoffs.
In return for a franchise quarterback, the front office not only filled their most glaring need at cornerback by acquiring Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, they also scooped the Cards for a second round pick. All things considered, this seems like a pretty fair deal for a player who has started seven career games in four NFL seasons.
Even though it had been reported a bunch, particularly over the last week or so, it's still something of a surprise the Eagles wound up with Rodgers-Cromartie. Player-for-player trades are a relatively rare proposition for the NFL, often just wishful thinking during barstool conversations.
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For that matter, the fact that the Cardinals were willing to part with DRC—a 25-year-old former first round pick with a Pro Bowl selection to his name—might set off some red flags. Sure, they used this year's first on Patrick Peterson, but now they are thin again at cornerback. The word is Rodgers-Cromartie did not have a very good 2010, so there may be some issues with consistency there.
Still, there is no denying the kid has all the talent in the world. In three seasons, DRC has already compiled 13 interceptions, four of which he returned for touchdowns. He also forced three fumbles during his all star '09 campaign, which is a decent total for a guy with a reputation as a poor tackler. Listed at 6'2", 182, he also has the size and ability to fill the need for a press corner opposite Asante Samuel.
As for Kolb, who was only a second rounder himself, he should step right in as Arizona's starter, and will be an immediate upgrade over Derek Anderson, Max Hall, and John Skelton. With Larry Fitzgerald on the outside, Kolb will be paired with one of the game's truly elite receivers, so the Cardinals should see some improvement right away, particularly in the weak NFC West.
While some will suggest it was a mistake to trade him, primarily over concerns about Mike Vick's durability, the situation sort of dictated the Eagles do this. Unless a long-term extension is reached with Vick before September 20, both quarterbacks would have become free agents in 2012, which means one of them would have been able to walk away without the team receiving anything as compensation.
News
Adam Caplan reports the Cardinals agreed to a five-year contract valued at a whopping $63 million, with $20 mil guaranteed.
We'll have more on this trade in the coming days, but now that the deal is finally done, how do you feel? It was nice to kill two birds with one stone, but would you have been happier with signing a different corner and getting more/better picks? Would you have preferred they held on to Kolb and got nothing at all one year from now? Or would you say, for once, this deal is jussst right?