Top 10 destinations for Donovan McNabb in 2010

First things first; I must be mad to write this kind of post when one of the bigger source of traffic to the blog is YardBarker, aka Where Donovan McNabb blogs. If this gets a link there, I'm sure to get hordes of McNabb haters and fans in the comments section going crazy Broadway-style, and maybe even the big man himself chucking some Chunky Soup at my head. (Seeing how it's Five, my feet are in greater jeopardy. But let's just move on.)

Secondly, this list omits the constantly discussed notion of Minnesota, simply because if I have to go there, I have to talk about Brett Favre. And if anyone else in Blogfrica does that, the Internets will break. And I'd hate for that to be on my conscience, really.

10) Washington. If you really think that the Eagles want to deal with a vengeful high-level QB that could finally drag the Skins out of the swamp... well, um, no. Besides, the Skins are far more likely to jerk around Jason Campbell and torture some big-named rook, rather than go after an older, injury-prone name.

9) Oakland. McNabb makes a lot of sense here, since he's got a ton of experience in making terrible wideouts look tolerable, and the Raiders have brought in veterans (Kerry Collins, Aaron Brooks) before. It's also got to eat at the organization that, if they had just a replacement-level QB, they would have been in the running for a playoff spot last year. But whether all of that translates to making a move and finally giving up on JaMarcus Russell as a sunk cost is another matter entirely.

8) Carolina. With the Jake Delhomme Experience being over, the Panthers are looking at 2010 with Matt Moore under center, and while that ended well last year, starting a new campaign is another matter entirely. McNabb's history of low mistakes would play well here, Steve Smith would have to appreciate his touch on the deep ball, and the running game might add years to his career. It's a dark horse spot, but not a bad one.

7) Denver. The reunion tour with Brian Dawkins could take advantage of the usual comedy stylings of the AFC West, and the Broncos have to be thinking hard about a big name under center after a year in the Kyle Orton wilderness. It would also help to distract the fan base from missing Brandon Marshall, which seems like a done deal. But it's hard to see coach Josh McReynolds go hard for an option that wouldn't reflect on his genius.

6) Arizona. My favorite dark horse candidate, in that they might feel the need to make a big splash after a flurry of moves involving well-known players. It would require an utter and complete lack of faith in understudy QB Matt Leinart, which makes sense if you've seen Leinart actually play or practice. McNabb has a fair amount in common with departed messiah Kurt Warner, and he'd certainly make the remaining offensive options more attractive for fantasy players. He's also oddly local, in that he trains in Arizona in the off-season.

5) San Francisco. The Niners have picks to spare, a division that's ripe for the taking, and a shaky QB in once and future retread Alex Smith. They also have an emerging WR threat in Michael Crabtree, a fan base that's starved for a big splash move, and a solid but aging RB1 in Frank Gore. The defense also picked it up nicely last year, which is important in that it means they might think that they are close enough that a veteran QB might get them into the playoffs. But realistically, this franchise hasn't made a move like this in years, and probably won't now.

4) Seattle. Do they really want another season on the Matt Hasselbeck / Seneca Wallace treadmill, especially when owner Paul Allen has more money than sense and the town is ready to just give up and move to Vancouver for the sports scene? No and no, and they do have picks to move if they want to upgrade here... but it's hard to see how new coach Pete Carroll wants to tie his wagon to a QB who will have this much weight in the locker room. The fact that the Seahawks are also bringing in Tim Tebow for a visit tells me that Carroll would rather lose with someone young.

3) Cleveland. Here's where the bidding gets serious. The Browns have a festering wound at QB (seriously, the "decision" to tender Derek Anderson or not is right up there, in terms of difficulty, with not setting your genitals on fire), noted Green Bay / Andy Reid enthusiast Mike Holmgren steering the ship, a nice piece (NT Shaun Rogers) that would make for a reasonable trade of valuable but older pieces, and their hands in the middle of a dozen conversations about lesser QBs than McNabb (David Carr? Seneca Wallace? Yeesh). It also doesn't hurt that the GM here is Tom Heckert, who has Eagle ties as well. The rumor here a month ago was actually QB Kevin Kolb, but you'd have to think (hope?) that the Eagles would rather move the older guy.

2) St. Louis. The 1-15 Rams have been so linked to a deal for QB Micahel Vick for so long that one has to wonder if the rumors might just be a dodge for larger prey. Vick makes more sense here, since he'd hide the porous offensive line better and maybe sell more tickets from protestors and people who don't really understand football, but there's always the possibility that the team really believes the insanity they've been pushing about how much they value Vick, and would rather go to a competition between him and Kolb.

Getting back to why McNabb's chances of being here are higher is the face that head coach Steve Spagnuolo is intimately familiar with McNabb's work from his team on Reid's staff, which probably explains why AJ Feeley's career will continue here. If it's my team, I draft a QB, give Feeley the caretaker role for a year and build the lines, but maybe Spags just sees that as the way to prime the pump for the next coach. Seeing how he just went 1-15 in his first year, I'm not thinking he's got that long of a leash, really.

1) Philadelphia. What, you really think that Andy Reid is going to get run off from his best chance at winning 10-11 games and one playoff game next year? Cap'n Andy needs that level of sameness more than he needs extra bacon in his coffee. Besides, he's really not serious about Vick's potential, and doesn't have (um) the stomach for a rebuilding year. Not when the team was so close to beating Dallas last year. (Don't tell him. It'll only upset him, and when that happens, he eats.)