Eagles Make Surprise Move

With the rib injury to Donovan McNabb the Philadelphia Eagles had to make a move at quarterback. And in a surprise move the Eagles signed Jeff Garcia to a contract. At first thought all I had to say about this was WOW. The Eagles once again pulled off another surprise signing. When I looked at the signing more it looks brilliant from an on the field standpoint. Off the field, that’s a different story.

First we’ll look at it from the football point of view.

Jeff Garcia instantly gives the Eagles a backup quarterback who can actually start, something they may need if McNabb can’t go Sunday against the New Orleans Saints. In Kevin Kolb’s relief appearance he showed once again that he is not capable of shouldering the load.

Garcia knows the system and could potentially start next week if he can get in sync with the current group of receivers. Receivers that are much better then the group Philadelphia had in 2006 when Garcia went 5-1 in the regular season, leading the Eagles to the playoffs.

If McNabb can’t go for multiple weeks, Garcia is still a better option then Michael Vick. Vick is to the point where he can be, like McNabb said, a gimmick. He can bring you the scare of the Wildcat offense, he can make defenders miss with his elusiveness but he’s not ready to lead an offense that relies on the passing game.

So from a football standpoint the Eagles have fully covered their asses should McNabb miss an extended period of time.

My concerns about the off the field impact of this signing date back to that 2006 season. Garcia led the team to the playoffs and the Eagles let him walk. Garcia took a .500 team into the second round of the playoffs and had many in Philly wanting him to be the Eagles new, permanent starter. That didn’t happen, they stayed with #5.

There were a lot of feathers (pardon the pun) ruffled with the fans and both quarterbacks that off season. While I think McNabb’s finally matured enough to where he won’t feel threatened and realize this is just till he is healthy.

Wait a minute, did I really just say that? F THAT! He hasn’t matured enough, we all saw what he said about Michael Vick being a gimmick and he can’t get in a rhythm with him out there.

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“Adding Jeff Garcia to the roster is a great idea,” McNabb writes at his Yardbarker blog. “He knows our offense and how we do things around here. He’s a great teammate and I look forward to working with him again.”

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Remember he originally said he was happy about the Vick signing too.

If Garcia comes in Sunday and leads the Eagles to a win over the New Orleans Saints there will be plenty of fans calling for him to stay. It’s Philadelphia’s favorite thing to do, call for new leadership if they can win with a different QB or if McNabb struggles.

If McNabb is out a few weeks and Garcia continues to win, many will def call for Garcia to stay out there. Especially if McNabb loses in his return.

The one thing I like is it will keep us from seeing much Michael Vick.

So yea from a football stand point its a great move. But when we go to the off the field it could be different especially with the fragile mindset of McNabb and the quick to turn your back on you Philadelphia fan base.

The real question now is who wears #7??