Donovan McNabb Is the Veteran Quarterback the Minnesota Vikings Need

Given the Minnesota Vikings’ current roster of quarterbacks, they need to acquire a veteran quarterback if they wish to be successful in 2011. 

While the Vikings looked hopeless for much of the 2010 season, don’t forget that this team was a Brett Favre interception away from the Super Bowl in the 2009 season.

And most of the same pieces that put them in that position are still in place. 

The big exceptions will be Favre and defensive end Ray Edwards—although he’s not officially off the Vikings roster, there’s no reason to believe the damaged relationship between management and him can be repaired.

Wide receiver Sidney Rice and linebacker Ben Leber are the two other big free agents the Vikings have to worry about re-signing—if they choose to.

But for the most part, this will be the same team that was one of the best in the business in 2009.  It just needs a quarterback that can bring it all together. 

Currently, the best quarterback on the roster is rookie Christian Ponder, which isn’t saying much given that he hasn’t thrown a pass in the NFL yet. 

The rumor, before Favre saved Minnesota in 2009, was that the Vikings would acquire then-Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb. 

But all that jazz was under coach Brad Childress and he and McNabb had a familiarity with one another from Childress’s time as an offensive coach with the Philadelphia Eagles from 1999-2005. 

While Childress is gone, the Vikings have another former Eagles coach at the helm: Leslie Frazier. 

Frazier was the Eagles defensive backs coach from 1999-2002, right as McNabb entered the league in 1999.  So there is a connection, although little has been said about how Frazier feels about McNabb and vice versa. 

McNabb could act as a one, two, or three year fill-in while 2011 first-round pick Christian Ponder sat and matured into a NFL quarterback.  He could also serve as a mentor to Ponder.

Look what McNabb did for Eagles quarterbacks Kevin Kolb and Michael Vick. 

Kolb appeared ready to be a breakout player in 2010, after three years of understudy to McNabb, only to battle injuries and give way to Vick starting. 

But now Kolb may be the hottest quarterback on the trade block, if the Eagles choose to trade their backup quarterback.

Vick had a breakout season in 2010, to say the least, after playing sparingly for Philadelphia in 2009.  He set career highs in completion percentage (62.6), passing yards (3,018), touchdown passes (21), and passer rating (100.2).  He accomplished those numbers in only 12 games.

While the accomplishments of the two Eagles quarterbacks aren’t directly a product of McNabb’s tutelage, he does deserve some credit. 

McNabb would give the Vikings a better chance to win in 2011 than their current best option, Ponder, could. 

McNabb played in five NFC Championship games and the 2005 Super Bowl.  He has the experience the Vikings need under center.

Yes, he had a down year in 2010.  But that was as a member of the Washington Redskins. 

The Redskins 2010 season was filled with turmoil (McNabb butting heads with the coaching staff and defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth doing likewise).  A player cannot perform his best with zero chemistry with the coaching staff.

If McNabb were placed on the Vikings, the McNabb from 2009 would come back—at the very least.  In 2009 McNabb threw for 3,553 yards, had a passer rating of 92.9, and had a 22:10 touchdown to interception ratio. 

Throughout his career, McNabb has never had the weapons that the 2011 Minnesota offense could offer: running back Adrian Peterson, tight end Visanthe Shiancoe, wide receiver Percy Harvin and maybe Rice. 

The difficulty for Minnesota will be acquiring McNabb. 

He’s under contract with the Redskins for 2011, but neither side can be happy with the current situation.  McNabb’s contract calls for him to earn $70 million, minimally, over the five years of the deal.

Whether or not the Vikings are willing to accumulate that type of contract in 2011 through trade is debatable.  But if the Redskins cut McNabb all together, it would make things much simpler. 

There will be a few veteran quarterbacks on the market this offseason, if there is one, but McNabb offers the most experience and the best opportunity for a Minnesota team still looking to win in 2011 with its veteran-latent roster.

There are other veteran quarterbacks like Matt Hasselbeck, Vince Young, Marc Bulger, or Bruce Gradkowski that could be available to Minnesota, but none have the experience of nurturing quarterbacks like McNabb does nor do any of them have the playoff experience that McNabb does. 

If the Vikings are serious about contending in 2011, they should add McNabb.