Was trading Kolb the right move by the Eagles?

Published: September 19th, 2011 | Tags: Michael Vick, Bump -n- Run, Deion Sanders, Michael Irvin, NFL GameDay Final, Philadelphia Eagles

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Michael Vick has played a full 16-game slate once in his eight full NFL seasons. Quarterbacks get injured, and Vick’s style of play and his running ability leaves him susceptible to a greater number of hits than most at his position.

So, in many ways the Eagles took a calculated risk trading capable backup Kevin Kolb during the offseason. With Kolb out of the picture and backup Vince Young on the shelf with a hamstring injury, the Eagles turned to Mike Kafka when Vick left with a concussion against the Falcons.

While hindsight always provides the easy answer, the question remains: Was trading Kolb the right move?

NFL Network analysts Deion Sanders and Michael Irvin took up the topic on “NFL GameDay Final.”

“They’ll regret it, but they couldn’t do anything but trade him because of the financial numbers (he) and Vick wanted,” Irvin said.  “Every team in the NFL would love to have two starting quarterbacks and just name one of them the backup. But the reality is they did the right thing. I love what every one of (the Eagles) were saying, that they wanted to win for Vick. That means he’s the clear leader of the team.”

Faced with losing Kolb to free agency, the Eagles could have gotten nothing in return. It’s remains an unknown what their contingency plan — Young — will provide when he gets healthy. For at least one week, it’s going to be the Kafka show, which is a reality the Eagles should have seen coming.

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