Another domino falls in this year’s quarterback market, as the Minnesota Vikings have acquired Donovan McNabb from the Washington Redskins. In return, the Vikings have sent a 2012 sixth-round draft pick and a conditional 2013 sixth-round pick.
According to Jay Glazer from FOX Sports, all that was standing in the way of a deal on Tuesday was the restructuring of McNabb’s contract. As was later reported by NFL Network’s Jason LaCanfora, McNabb would indeed restructure his deal in return to be given a chance to quarterback one of the most talented offensive groups in the league.
The Minnesota Vikings obviously have a belief that they can win now, and with Adrian Peterson, Percy Harvin, and potentially one more talented receiver that they hope to acquire this offseason, there’s no reason why they should feel any different. By bringing in McNabb, Minnesota hopes that they will have a quarterback that can make them a legitimate title contender. And out of the available quarterbacks, no other quarterback has as much playoff success as Donovan McNabb, who has started five championship games and one Super Bowl, which makes him an ideal fit.
The worst case scenario for Minnesota is that the 34 year old quarterback continues to show his age, and is simply a veteran presence on the team to bridge the gap between former Vikings quarterback, Brett Favre, and rookie quarterback, Christian Ponder. And in this scenario, it still allows Ponder to learn from a veteran quarterback rather than getting thrown to the wolves and being forced to learn on the fly.
Either way you look at it, the Vikings seem to be coming out ahead in both the short term and the long. And obviously McNabb was ready to jump on the opportunity, as he apparently wanted out of Washington, and seems to have run out of options.
Fantasy Spin:
McNabb is going to a much better situation than Washington, fantasy wise, regardless of what other moves Minnesota makes. My projection is going to look rather optimistic relative to his past performance given that it’s for 16 games, something which McNabb has only done three times in his career. But he should be able to throw for 3508 yards, 20 passing touchdowns, and 13 interceptions, while rushing for 163 yards and 2 scores.
Questions and comments are always welcome via Twitter – @Eric_Yeomans
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