Meet a (Potential) Future Viking: Donovan McNabb

Name: Donovan McNabb

Position: Quarterback

Age: 31

Years in League: 9

Teams: Philadelphia Eagles

Accomplishments: 5-time Pro Bowler, 2004 NFC Offensive Player of the Year, 4 straight NFC Championship Games (1-3), 1 Super Bowl Appearance (Loss)

Current Contract Status: Signed Through 2010

2007 Stats:

• Games Played: 14
• Completions: 61%
• Yards: 3324
• TDs: 19
• INTs: 7
• Rating: 89.9

Injury History:

• Missed 2 games in 2007 with an ankle sprain and swollen thumb.
• Missed 6 games in 2006 after suffering torn ACL.
• Missed 7 games in 2005 with sports hernia.
• Missed 6 games in 2002 with broken ankle.
• Missed 1 game in 1999 with knee injury.

Known For: Getting booed on draft day; shutting up said booers by becoming one of the NFL’s top QBs; getting caught up in controversies not of his own making, including the fracas over Rush Limbaugh’s comments about black QBs being propped up by the media, and the general hubbub over Terrell Owens; starring in commercials for Campbell’s Chunky soup; being on the cover of Madden ’06.

Memorable Quotes:

On making up with Terrell Owens after their feud: “He brought me breakfast. He brought me some Krispy Kreme doughnuts and he mowed my lawn. He fertilized it, too. I picked the doughnuts up, I bought the fertilizer and I brought him some water while he was cutting my grass. I also put my workout facility outside so he could work out in my driveway.

Connection to Vikings: Played under head coach Brad Childress when Childress was offensive coordinator in Philadelphia.

Why the Vikings Might Want Him: He is a Pro-Bowl level quarterback who has experience in the West Coast offense. He would be a good mentor for Tarvaris Jackson. It would be nice to keep him away from the Bears. He would bring leadership and personality to an offense that often seems rudderless and bland.

Why the Vikings Might Not Want Him: He is on the downside of his career. He has a big contract. They would have to give up high draft-picks to get him. He gets hurt a lot. He would not be thrilled with the lack of playmaking receivers on the team.

What the Vikings Should Do: They have no choice but to at least look into a McNabb trade – talents this big-time do not become available very often, and they would be fools not to at least inquire about him. In the end, though, I doubt the Eagles will trade McNabb. The Favre/Rodgers model has shown that there’s nothing wrong with letting a young QB sit for several years behind an established guy. Plus, McNabb had a very good year in 2007, all things being equal. If Philly adds some decent pieces around McNabb, they could find themselves in the playoff mix again next year. If they blow it up and go with Kevin Kolb/A.J. Feeley, they will be lucky to finish 6-10.

The Prediction: Vikings fans can dream all they want about having McNabb behind center for 2008, but it will remain just a dream.