If the the Eagles’ decision to pay Michael Vick a roster bonus of $1.5 million is any indication, it looks like they’re on their way to keeping all three of their quarterbacks. According to espn.com the Birds will make this payment as part of the $5.25 million Vick’s 2010 contract calls for. Andy Reid punctuated the decision by saying “I haven’t changed my decision, and I don’t think they have (the front office) either. They agreed, and mentioned some of the same things I’ve said–that Donovan’s our quarterback.”

Because this story is about Michael Vick’s contract, we’re not completely sure how this signals that “Donovan’s our quarterback.” But perhaps Reid sees his triumvirate of QBs as inexorably linked to each other. Certainly Vick’s value to the team is in a situational role, so he may have been expendable if Reid planned to move the other portion of his package, McNabb, during the off season.

The other side of the coin is that a small roster bonus payment to Vick means that the Eagles don’t have to spend too much to keep all of their trade options open. With nothing on the horizon (at least publicly), the Eagles’ options in trading one or more of their quarterbacks means that they have more flexibility if the right situation presents itself. Or it could simply mean another year with Donovan at the helm, Kolb and Vick playing supporting roles and fans in this town elevating Tylenol stock every Monday morning.

If you’re a reasonable person, you’ve probably had enough of the daily circus surrounding the Eagles quarterback position. Once upon a time, you were tired of the Brett Favre retirement marathon and this situation reminds you of that. Well, the bad news for you is that this city’s psycho-sexual obsession with Donovan McNabb and the QB spot is alive and well and throbbing on this February Friday.

Garry Cobb is reporting that the Eagles have made a contract offer to Kolb with the stated intention that he would be the starting quarterback “within a year or so.” According to Cobb, this offer was made “more than a year ago” which makes us wonder (if true) whether this portends an imminent McNabb departure.

Thankfully, Howard Eskin is reporting that this rumor is completely false. That’s good news for Eagles nation if for no other reason than the implication that this drama will continue to captivate the attention of the Delaware Valley. Frankly, I’m hoping they cancel the upcoming baseball season so we can have a few more months of this with no interruptions.

Trying to find a tie-in between Brooklyn Decker and Philadelphia sports is like trying to find WMDs in Iraq. There doesn’t seem to be any real connection other than the desire to create one for self-serving purposes. So ok, here goes: Decker is married to Andy Roddick, who is only slightly less well-known as an epic big-game choker than Donovan McNabb.

In any event, she is gracing this year’s SI Swimsuit cover and since that magazine seems to report on sports, we have a fiduciary responsibility to report on it. I’m still not sure what the word “fiduciary” means, much in the same way I didn’t know what it meant when a former boss fired me, saying I had become “too much like a fiduciary.”

Since we’re on the subject of boobs, it should be noted that the Sixers are playing tonight at home against the Timberwolves. Don’t look now but the Sixers have won 4 in a row and should get a 5th tonight (theoretically) because the T-Wolves are 4-21 on the road. This game is going to be about as captivating as reading a 1000-page biography of Punxsutawney Phil. But since the St. Louis-St. Joe’s game is the only other local action tonight, the NBA might actually be watched this evening.

The teams most frequently mentioned as potential destinations for Donovan McNabb (if he were to be traded) are the Arizona Cardinals and the Minnesota Vikings. Both teams have quality at the receiver position, the tight end position as well as at running back. And with actual and potential retirements at their quarterback positions (and incredible uncertainty in the heirs apparent, Matt Leinart and Tarvaris Jackson), it makes sense that both playoff-caliber teams could benefit greatly from the addition of McNabb. Both teams are young as well, which means the prospect of grabbing draft picks in return for McNabb makes them appealing trading partners for the Eagles.

San Jose Mercury News writer, Tim Kawakami, made the case today for why the addition of McNabb would make so much sense for the San Francisco 49ers. The Niners are a team that went 8-8 last season in a division that only has one other competent team, the Arizona Cardinals. Their quarterback, Alex Smith, has yet to live-up to his potential as the 1st-overall pick out of Utah in 2005. The mere presence of Mike Singletary as head coach means the team will focus on playing good defensive football. Most fittingly, however, for the McNabb trade scenario is the presence of tight end Vernon Davis, running back Frank Gore and receiver Michael Crabtree. In other words, all this team needs is a quarterback.

The mere realization of this on the Eagles’ part makes a return on a McNabb trade even better. Word on the street is that McNabb would garner a 2nd-round pick in return (along with pocket change). But that’s because right now, the Cardinals are really the only team that makes sense for all parties involved. With the Minnesota situation unresolved for obvious reasons, the addition of San Francisco to the mix revitalizes a multi-team market for McNabb. And the best part about it from the Eagles’ perspective is that San Francisco and Arizona are the two best teams in their division; read: bidding war. It’s almost assured that (assuming he’s traded to one of them) the team who gets McNabb will be the favorite to win the NFC West. Hence more in return for the Eagles.

Obviously this is mere speculation but speculation that makes sense for all parties involved. Either Arizona or San Francisco gets the piece they need, McNabb’s happy (read: contract extention) because he lands on a contender and the Eagles get better picks coming their way because of both other teams’ competitive proximity. In other words, a win-win-win.

Mr. Personality is down in Miami getting ready for the Pro Bowl. Despite the rigors that entails, McNabb took a few moments out of his busy morning to share some of his thoughts with the Inquirer. And what’s on his mind is a return to the Eagles. McNabb does have a year remaining on his contract and he probably sees the defeat of the entire Eagles’ fan base as his most pressing challenge. To that end he said, among other things, “I love this team and I love being around these guys and competing. I think good things could happen for us.”

Meanwhile, rumor has it that a McNabb-to-Minnesota trade may be in the works in Brett Favre retires. Of course, with the way Favre does things we may never know whether that’ll happen. While this scenario seems to make sense for all parties involved (most notably the members of the Torresdale Social and Benevolent Club), the fact that it’s contingent upon Brett Favre making a decision makes it about as expedient as waiting for Godot. So come on back, Donnie! After all, who loves you more than we do?

Word on the street is that the Eagles are going to trade Donovan McNabb for 5 first-round picks. They are rumored to be Jimmy Clausen, Taylor Mays, Ndamukong Suh, Dez Bryant and Ronaldo McClain. If this is true, Joe Banner et al may final be committing to winning.

Let me begin by saying that the following comparison is between Donovan McNabb and NFL Hall of Fame quarterbacks who’ve played during the Super Bowl era. This does not mean that I believe McNabb is a HOF-caliber quarterback at this point. Nor is it intended to side with either party in the Eleven Years War that McNabb and the City of Philadelphia have had to endure since he was drafted. Rather, this comparison is intended to provoke some thought and provide some perspective, two ideas entirely foreign to most Eagles fans.

There are 18 Hall of Fame quarterbacks who’ve played in the NFL since the inception of the Super Bowl. Taken together, those players have amassed 216 seasons and they’ve won 23 Super Bowls. This means that, on average, Hall of Fame quarterbacks win a Super Bowl every 9.4 seasons they play. Donovan McNabb, as you know, is yet to win a Super Bowl in his 11 seasons as the Eagles quarterback which means he’s about a season and a half behind the pace set by the game’s all-time greats.

Almost half of those Super Bowl wins (11) belong to only 3 players: Troy Aikman (3), Joe Montana (4) and Terry Bradshaw (4). If you remove them from the equation, the other 15 players win Super Bowls every 14.5 seasons played, a pace which McNabb is well-ahead of. In fact, Aikman played 9 seasons without winning the Lombardi Trophy, Montana played 11 seasons without winning and Bradshaw played 10 seasons. So among the winningest quarterbacks in Super Bowl history, they average 10 seasons in their careers where they haven’t won it all. To date, that makes them 1 season more efficient than McNabb.

Of course, none of this really matters because it could be forever until McNabb wins one. Assuming that happens, he’ll be in the company of 7 HOF QBs who’ve never won it all. So at present, more than one third of the quarterbacks in the Hall have failed to win a Super Bowl. They are George Blanda, Dan Fouts, Dan Marino, Fran Tarkenton, Sonny Jurgensen, Warren Moon and Jim Kelly and they have played, on average, 12 seasons in the Super Bowl era (the ratio is even larger when you consider Blanda only played one season at quarterback in the SB era). So if McNabb were a Hall of Fame-caliber guy, he’d be well within his rights to play 1 more season without winning a Super Bowl and still have done as well as a third of the quarterbacks already in.

Finally, among all 18 players, there are 193 seasons played where no Super Bowl was won. When you do the math, the magic result is 10.9 seasons played with no SB, virtually the exact same number of seasons McNabb has been in the NFL and hasn’t won the big one. More simply put, the Hall of Fame is willing to allow its member quarterbacks 11 fruitless seasons (and a third of their ranks no Super Bowls at all). Considering their standard is the highest there is, do you think yours might need a little adjusting?

Bodog.com lists Donovan McNabb as a 1/5 favorite to be the Eagles starting QB in Game 1 of the 2010 season. With apologies to the dreamers who’d rather see Kevin Kolb, he’s currently a 7/2 underdog. And taking up the rear, the field is a 5/1 dog so there are still a few billion other possibilities.

As for Michael Vick, he’s a slight favorite to be traded (10/11), versus being released (1/1) or being on the 2010 team (13/4). So there you have it, the ‘10 Eagles quarterback (sorry, no odds on Jeff Garcia) controversy solved months in advance.

The issue of Donovan McNabb’s future was raised by yours truly yesterday. Following up on that today is the Daily News’ Rich Hofmann, who titles his piece on the subject “McNabb looks to be on his way out.” Hofmann describes the writing on the wall surrounding McNabb’s offseason raise, the presence of Kevin Kolb and perhaps most intriguingly, he compares #5 to some other elite quarterbacks statistically.

Whether the McNabb lovers outweigh the haters may no longer be enough to keep McNabb around. The mere presence of the love/hate relationship this town has with McNabb’s titleless team may be enough to see him out if the Eagles don’t make a deep playoff run. I don’t know whether this is a good or a bad thing, but one thing’s for sure: McNabb’s performance tomorrow and in the weeks to follow (if there are weeks to follow) may provide a rare look at an 11-year veteran auditioning for a job.

Regardless of what happens on Saturday night in Dallas, the odds are not in the Eagles’ favor to win the Super Bowl this season, which brings us to the perennial question surrounding this team at the familiar, disappointing end to each campaign: is McNabb the guy to lead the team to its first Super Bowl win? Unlike other possible first-round opponents, the Cowboys bring added pressure because of the rivalry between the two franchises and so the fallout from an Eagles opening-round loss would be even greater that if they were to lose to, say, Green Bay or Carolina.

To make the gravity surrounding the game even heavier, it brings with it the possibility that Dallas will have, for all intents and purposes, ruined the Eagles’ entire season by beating them 3 times. Don’t win it all in a year when you probably didn’t really have a shot to? We’re still angry but we can live with that if we think about it objectively (a big ‘if’ in this town). But cap the season with two losses to the Cowboys including a decisive one that makes the Eagles golfers for the foreseeable future? Completely unacceptable.

Much is made of Donovan McNabb’s complicity in the Eagles’ relative lack of success. A person’s perception of his contribution to the team’s fates over the years depends on whether his career is viewed in a half-full or half-empty way. On the positive side, McNabb is kind of like the diet version of Jim Kelly: great career numbers but no rings (though he’s only sniffed the Super Bowl once, an odor several quarterbacks can describe). And on the negative side, with the expectations of a town that’s never won the Super Bowl (while the other 3 teams in their division have all won multiple Lombardi trophies), McNabb’s stats mean little because they don’t correspond with a championship.

The complicated reality of the quarterback position is that it is one of eleven positions on the offense, and one of 22 roles that make up the majority of plays in a football game. Of course the signal caller is going to be the lightning rod or the hero but that depends more on the players, coaches and quality of opposition around him than it does on the QB’s perceived will to win games. Is the quarterback position more important than the other positions on offense? Probably it is. But the idea that fans have in their heads about the quarterback being the John Wayne of the team is a popular myth stemming from an inability to view the unfolding of a game as a function of many more moving parts.

Donovan McNabb has been at times in his career an excellent quarterback. At other times (like last week) he hasn’t been so good. There are, of course, a number of quarterbacks who have been so outstanding that their performances transcend their roles and their teams. Some of them would be John Elway, Tom Brady and Joe Montana. In fairness, Donovan McNabb does not belong in that group. With that said, however, none of those players won Super Bowls by themselves. They all played for teams that were probably better than any Eagles team McNabb has played on.

So if the Eagles lose on Saturday there will be a very vocal movement (maybe even more so than usual) to end the McNabb experiment. Whether that’s fair to him given the cast around him doesn’t matter because of the role of the quarterback; indeed, the perception of leadership on the football field through the quarterback position is, for right or wrong, exactly that, a role. And so going forward with McNabb, the question has to be whether he’s played that role as effectively as he could have. When you think about it in those terms, perhaps Saturday really is McNabb’s last stand as an Eagle.