Donovan McNabb News Update: Raiders, Rams, Bills and 49ers are all in trade talks

Posted on March 31, 2010 by admin

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Remember when Philadelphia Eagles fans “booooo” the pick of Donovan McNabb?

Eagles fans were upset that the QB was selected rather than powerful running back Ricky Williams out of Texas. It turns out that McNabb was a fantastic pick for the Eagles after leading the team to 4 NFC Title Games and 1 Super Bowl. That NFL MVP is now on the trading block.

The Oakland Raiders, St. Louis Rams, Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers are scrambling to sign the the quarterback superstar, and it seems that Oakland has the upper hand.

News: Raiders sources are reportedly denying that the team has made an offer for McNabb, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

Spin: Naturally, that doesn’t rule out something popping up on that front down the road. In the meantime, McNabb did not report for the first day of the team’s voluntary offseason conditioning program Monday. Don’t read too much into that however, as McNabb typically does his offseason workouts in Arizona, with the organization’s blessing.

According to ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio:

The Philadelphia Eagles are continuing trade discussions with a number of teams about trading quarterback Donovan McNabb and those discussions could continue until draft day, a senior team official told ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio on Tuesday.

“There is no so-called front-runner,” the senior team official said. “We continue to engage in conversations with multiple teams that initially contacted us. Some of the offers involve draft picks, some involve a player, some involve many players. We are evaluating the offers. But if some team had totally blown us away, we would probably have made a deal already.”

League sources told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter on Monday that the Oakland Raiders have emerged as the leading candidate to land McNabb in a trade.

The league sources told Schefter all the ingredients for a trade are in place. Of all the teams the Eagles have spoken with, the Raiders have been the most willing to meet the Eagles’ asking price.

A league source told Paolantonio the discussions focus on McNabb, although a number of teams are still calling about backup Kevin Kolb. The source said the Eagles are no longer shopping Michael Vick.

Also, the team official said there is no magic number in the draft that would be required to make a deal for McNabb. Late last week, there was an Associated Press report the Eagles wanted at least the 42nd pick in the draft for McNabb. “That’s not true,” the team official said.

Sources told Schefter McNabb’s contract, which has one year and $11.2 million left on it, scared off other teams. But, the sources said, Oakland is not concerned that McNabb is due a $6.2 million roster bonus on May 5 nor that the quarterback is scheduled to become a free agent after the 2010 season.

At the league meetings, head coach Andy Reid said the Eagles were listening to offers for all three quarterbacks, including 11-year veteran McNabb, who quickly said on his Web site that he wanted a quick resolution to the trade conversations.

But the Eagles are intent on moving deliberately. Trading McNabb has proved to be tricky because of his age — he will be 34 in November — and the fact that he is in the last year of his contract and wants a lucrative long-term extension.

The obvious front-runner to land Donovan McNabb right now is the Oakland Raiders - where do you think Mr. Superstar QB McNabb will end up?