The main issue people have with the Donovan McNabb trade is that he was traded to a divisional rival. From a practical standpoint it doesn’t make any sense; why make one of your biggest rivals a stronger team while potentially making yourself a weaker team?
Details from a Yahoo Sports report has shed some light on the situation. The report is claiming that McNabb backed the Eagles into a corner and forced the trade to the Redskins.
As I pointed out a few weeks ago, McNabb didn’t have a no-trade clause in his contract but could make things difficult for any team that traded for him. It appears McNabb used that power to his advantage. Here are the details:
After being told last month that the Eagles would not deal him to NFC East-rival Washington, McNabb essentially forced Philadelphia’s hand by refusing to talk with any of the other teams that had expressed interest in recent weeks.
McNabb, who is in the final year of his deal, made this happen by making it clear he wasn’t going anywhere else but Washington. When the Buffalo Bills expressed interest – and even were willing to give McNabb a contract extension – he passed on the offer. When the Oakland Raiders sniffed around and showed willingness to trade for the quarterback without an extension, McNabb indicated to the Eagles through his associates that he’d retire.
“He has plenty of money,” the source close to McNabb said. “He’s not doing anything he doesn’t want to do.”
The Eagles could have called his bluff, but chose not to. That makes McNabb smart and the Eagles weak, in my opinion.
As a NFL player you normally don’t have a lot of leverage against management. The system is set up so that the organizations hold most of the cards. I give McNabb – who has been through some rough times in Philadelphia – credit for exercising his right to tell the Eagles that if he was traded to a team he didn’t like he wouldn’t sign an extension or he would retire.
I personally think McNabb was bluffing, but the Eagles decided not to take that chance. Now both McNabb and the Eagles are going to be engaged in a high-priced poker game for the next few years and it will be interesting to see who folds.