2011 Philadelphia Eagles Preview: Keeping the Quarterbacks Happy

Going into last season, the Eagles were facing an issue they hadn't faced in 11 years, a new starting quarterback on opening day. The organization and the fans believed that the time was now for Kevin Kolb to take the reigns of an 11-5 team and begin his growing pains as a starter in the National Football League.

Armed with a nice $12 million dollar bonus for the 2010 season, it only took one week for Kolb to become the most expensive backup quarterback in the league.

After suffering a concussion in the opening game against Green Bay, Mike Vick stepped in and the rest is, shall we say, history. Vick earned Pro Bowl honors, posted the best numbers of his career, lead the Eagles to an NFC East crown and restored his career all in one exciting season.

Vick was in the last year of a two-year deal where he earned just over $5 million and is due for a monster payday. The only question left being the length of the deal.

Kolb's stock was never higher than heading into the 2010 season. He was coming off back-to-back 300 yard games in his only two starts of 2009 filling in for an injured Donovan McNabb and yet he was still a bit of an unknown.

But, after seeing Kolb this year give countless lackluster performances against Washington, Tennessee and Dallas (after being exceptional against Atlanta), his stock has seen a significant drop.

One question now remains, what to do with the quarterbacks going into the 2011 season? Although it may not be the popular choice for both of them, the one that makes the most sense for the team is to franchise Vick and keep Kolb as a backup. Unless a team were to knock the Eagles out with an offer for him.

I know players look at the franchise tag these days as a slap in the face, but if you're getting paid as a top five player at the position, I'll take that slap any day of the week. The Eagles would be crazy to let Vick walk as a free agent, especially after what they did for him in terms of rehabilitating his career and his image.

Vick was excellent this year and deserves a significant pay increase. The franchise tag will do just that. Although it won't give him the long-term financial stability he desires, if he continues his extraordinary play into the 2011 season there will be no reason why he won't see another large, long-term deal in the near future.

As for Kolb, he has made it known that he wants to be a starter in this league. As long as he is under contract with the Eagles this last year at a very economic number, they should keep him as insurance in case Vick were to get nicked up and miss some games as he is prone to doing.

A trade of Kolb will be impossible anyway until there is a new collective bargaining agreement in place, and unless a team in desperate need of a quarterback were to throw a first round pick the Eagles way. I doubt that they budge.

While it won't be Kolb's first choice to be the backup, it is the most sensible choice for the team.

So when the offseason starts and rumors inevitably begin to fly about quarterback controversy in Philadelphia, expect that when it's all said and done, both Michael Vick and Kevin Kolb will be in Eagle green come the 2011 season.