Donovan McNabb's preference would be to remain a member of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Report: McNabb's top trade choice is Vikings
Although the word at the NFL owners meeting was that the Vikings would not be the destination for Donovan McNabb if and when he is traded, the quarterback evidently would like to wear purple.
By judd zulgad
But if that isn't going to happen -- and indications are the veteran quarterback will be dealt -- his first choice would be to play for the Vikings. That is according to a report from Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer and cites sources close to the situation.
This is interesting because McNabb knows that the Vikings are waiting for Brett Favre to decide if he will return for a 20th NFL season and a source at the owners meetings in Orlando this week said that McNabb almost certainly would be traded but Minnesota was not in the mix.
Vikings coach Brad Childress, who served as McNabb's quarterbacks coach and then offensive coordinator for seven seasons in Philadelphia, was asked about Minnesota's potential interest in McNabb on Wednesday. "Not as of right now," Childress said. "I'm not going to tell you that we won't add another quarterback to our roster or another two quarterbacks to our roster depending on which quarterback shows up and which doesn't. or which couple or three show up and which don't. That's all down-the-road stuff."
The Associated Press, citing a source, reported on Thursday night that the Eagles would not accept anything less than a top-42 pick in this year's draft in a trade for McNabb. The Vikings have the 30th-overall pick in the first round of next month's draft and then don't pick again late in the second round when they have the 62nd-overall pick.
The Vikings did make some calls about McNabb's availability last offseason but were turned off by what was considered a very high asking price at the time. That, of course, was before Favre became an option.
The Inquirer reports that McNabb wants a contract extension -- he is in the last year of his current contract -- and is not talking about the matter. While McNabb reportedly has concerns about playing for a losing team, the fact he would want to play for the Vikings seems a bit odd unless he thinks Favre isn't going to return.
The 33-year-old McNabb played 11 NFL seasons and been a starter for almost all of them. If the Vikings went and got McNabb, too, they might end up sending the exact message to Favre that they've been trying to avoid all offseason. The thing that does make sense about this is McNabb is from the Chicago area so being in Minnesota would put him closer to home.
Update: McNabb's agent, Fletcher Smith, declined to speculate about where McNabb might want to end up and pointed out that the quarterback posted an item on his blog this week saying his goal was to remain an Eagle. "Donovan wants to be an Eagle right now," Smith said. "He has already gone on record saying what his preference would be and that to play in Philadelphia next year."
about the writer
judd zulgad
Mike Conley was in Minneapolis, where he sounded the Gjallarhorn at the Vikings game, on Sunday during the robbery.