Just when you thought it was safe to start a quarterback under the age of 35. . .
It appears that the latest occupant of the Minnesota Vikings Rest Home For Overaged Quarterbacks (™ Eric Thompson) will be one Donovan McNabb. According to numerous sources, the Redskins and Vikings have, indeed, worked out a deal to acquire McNabb from the Redskins. The terms will apparently be a sixth-round pick in 2012 and a conditional pick in 2013 that will be tied to the Vikings' performance.
According to Pro Football Talk, the deal could be getting held up due to a bruised ego on the part of McNabb. Sources are reporting that the Vikings' first choice for a veteran quarterback was to sign free agent Tyler Thigpen, who was a Viking for about five minutes after being drafted by the team in the seventh round of the 2007 NFL Draft. It appears that McNabb isn't terribly thrilled with that.
I'll be honest with you, ladies and gentlemen. . .if the NFL posted this as their FaceBook status, my response would be one of those lamenting spam messages asking why FaceBook doesn't have a "dislike" button. Yes, if Leslie Frazier and company think that this team has a shot at being a contender in 2011, then this might squeeze a couple more wins out of them than starting Christian Ponder or Joe Webb.
But if this team gets off to a 2-5 start and the team decides it's time to throw one of the young guys into the fire, how is McNabb going to react? I mean, this is a guy that got benched by "quarterback guru" Mike Shanahan. . .who hasn't really "gurued" anybody since John Elway, who really didn't need a whole lot of "guruing," but that's a different story all together. . .for Rex Grossman because Shanahan felt he was "better in the two-minute offense."
This isn't exactly the most ringing endorsement of all time.
But, it appears that the reality of Donovan McNabb to the Vikings is going to happen sooner rather than later, and if he's going to be this team's quarterback, then I suppose that the only thing to do is support the guy and cheer like heck for him on Sunday afternoons. No word on when the deal will become official, but when it does, we'll certainly have something about it here.