Donovan, meet Dominique

If what we’re hearing is true, then Donovan McNabb is on his way to being an ex-Eagle soon.  The Eagles got themselves into a jam by picking up Michael Vick’s option; they now have one quarterback who’s been their longtime starter (McNabb), a second who’s itching for another opportunity to start in Vick, and a third who is supposed to be the quarterback of the future in Kevin Kolb (who’s itching to start now).

They were hoping to move Vick, but no other team is biting.  They want to keep Kolb, so that leaves McNabb as the only tradeable one of the three.  Now Donovan has had a tumultuous tenure in Philly, and would probably be better off finishing things up elsewhere.  But the teams that have been mentioned as possible destinations are just terrible.  St. Louis and Oakland have been the most frequently mentioned names….yikes.

This reminds me of what happened to Dominique Wilkins back in 1994.  After over a decade of carrying the Atlanta Hawks to the playoffs, scoring lots of points but falling short to Larry Bird-led Celtic teams three times, among others, the Hawks finally put together a first place unit in the 1993-94 season.

At the trade deadline, looking for a boost to get over the top in the East the Hawks traded their franchise player, still getting it done to the sad sack Los Angeles Clippers.  The effectively ended Wilkens career as a top shelf player, and didn’t help the Hawks one bit.  Now in 2010, the Eagles are looking to trade their beleaguered franchise, and it looks like the big suitors are two absolutely dreadful teams.  This would effectively end McNabb’s run as a top shelf quarterback; he’d likely get killed behind the porous offensive lines of either of those teams.

Deja vu all over again?  Sure looks like it to me.  The reasoning is different, but no less idiotic.   ‘Nique was traded because the Hawks thought they could get a younger player who could duplicate his point production without ‘Niques negative qualities (volume shooting, no defense).  They made a deal where they swapped their best player in 20-plus years for Danny Manning, a young All-Star.  Looked OK on paper; their numbers were similar and all. But Manning lacked Wilkins killer instinct and came up short in the playoffs that season, after which he promptly left Atlanta as a free agent.

McNabb is being  run out of town so that the Eagles can go with a younger quarterback who’s put up good numbers the few times he’s played; they must figure that Kolb can come close to McNabb’s numbers while leading the Eagles for the next ten years.  So like Wilkins being shipped to the Clippers, the NBA’s Siberia, McNabb may be sent to Oakland, where careers go to die.

It’s business, but it isn’t right.  ‘Nique deserved better, and so does Donovan.