Is Donovan McNabb the Right QB Placeholder for the Buffalo Bills?

The Philadelphia Eagles have an interesting dilemma on their hands. They think that young QB prospect Kevin Kolb is ready to assume command of the offense. But, they have incumbent Donovan McNabb still on the payroll for one more year. So, what will the Eagles do, trade McNab while they can still get some value for him, or stunt Kolb's growth for one more year and let McNab come back and finish off his contract?

If the Eagles decide to trade McNabb, one very logical destination would be to the Buffalo Bills. The Eagles and Bills have been semi-regular trade partners, with deals ranging from players like Jason Peters, Kelly Holcumb, and Takeo Spikes that have been completed. These teams have a comfort level in working with each other.

It should be noted however that none of those deals were done by Buddy Nix, and as the new GM of the Bills, will he want to give up future draft picks, knowing how many holes exist now on the team? We also note that the new head coach hired will want to have his say as well on McNabb, or any other veteran free agent that is available.

The Eagles have been hurt by poor safety play this year, and that is a position of strength for the Bills. With the surplus of safeties in Buffalo, could a trade be worked out involving McNabb for Donte Whitner, Trent Edwards and some lower draft picks?

The Bills are in need of identifying a franchise quarterback, something they have been without essentially since the days of Jim Kelly. Doug Flutie excelled during his time here, but wasn't even allowed to start in the team's last playoff contest while he was still on the team. But that is a whole different story. 

There have been a number of young guns that have come in and flopped since Kelly retired. Rob Johnson, Todd Collins, J.P. Losman, and Trent Edwards come to mind. Veterans that were brought in to play like Drew Bledsoe, Kelly Holcomb and, most recently, Ryan Fitzpatrick, have led the team to one losing season after another.

Franchise QB's come around only so often. Sometimes they are found in the first round, but sometimes they are found in later rounds and seemingly emerge out of nowhere. So assuming that the Bills will invest one of their initial draft picks in the "next QB of the future" somebody has to come in and run the team and teach the prodigy the ins and outs of the job. Enter Donovan McNabb.

McNabb would be popular in Buffalo, as he was a star at Syracuse from his college days. He has a following and if he was with Buffalo, that could have far-reaching ramifications like Aaron Schobel deciding to come back for another year and maybe Terrell Owens would want to reunite for another return engagement with McNab and the Bills.

McNabb dealt with some offensive line issues in Philadelphia this year, so it wouldn't be a shock for him to deal with those problems in Buffalo. He wouldn't be a "deer frozen in the headlights" like Trent Edwards so often is.

Another factor for McNabb is that he is a play maker. He can improvise, keep plays going longer with his ability to move around the pocket and use his legs to allow receivers to make the extra move required to get open. Imagine that, the Bills having a play maker at QB?

What should the Bills offer Philadelphia for McNabb's services? Clearly McNabb does not have much left in the tank, perhaps another year to two, maybe three at the most. But if he is able to finish his career in Buffalo and groom the next franchise QB in the process, I would suspect that the Bills would be a more competitive team than they have been in the past decade, and would be a threat to be a wild card playoff team.

What do you think?