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May 21, 2011Last night, Evan Silva of Pro Football Talk had an interesting article that outlined the trade market for Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Kevin Kolb. In the piece, Silva reports the feeling from NFL Network’s Michael Lombardi that Kolb is overvalued and should not warrant a first-round draft pick in a trade.
How does this play into the Browns and Colt McCoy? Well, Lombardi suggests that the Eagles should contact the Browns, owners of an extra first round draft choice in the 2012 NFL Draft, courtesy of the Julio Jones trade with the Atlanta Falcons.
Specifically, Lombardi predicts Kolb will be a Brown.
“I’m going to go Cleveland,” he said. “I’m not buying the Colt McCoy love affair going on in Cleveland. I don’t know how you can have the love affair. I think with the extra pick they got from Atlanta, that first-rounder, it’s gonna be hard to beat them in a poker game.”
Which begs the question, Browns fans: do we have an irrational love affair with Colt McCoy in Cleveland? Do we think he can command the West Coast offense under Pat Shurmur or are we simply hoping that he can? If the right trade for a QB comes along for Tom Heckert, would he pull the trigger?
I think Lombardi’s comments are a bit extreme. I see plenty to like about McCoy, although I have my own reservations about his arm strength and whether it is enough to get us to the top of the grueling AFC North. Still, I don’t think the majority of us are gushing over Colt just because we haven’t had a capable sustained signal-caller since the team’s rebirth in 1999. If anything, it may make fans a better judge and harsher critic of young quarterbacks. We’ve earned our stripes, so to speak.
To me, it’s an interesting offer to entertain, but one on which I would not pull the trigger. Kolb played in 7 games for the Eagles last season, starting 5 of them (2-3 record). The Houston product completed 60.8% of his passes, throwing for 1,197 yards, 7 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions for a 76.1 rating. Comparing that to McCoy’s 60.8% completion rate, 1,576 yards, 6 touchdowns, 9 interceptions, 2-6 record in 8 starts, and 74.5 rating, the numbers are quite identical.
Colt McCoy may wind up not being the long-term solution at quarterback for the Cleveland Browns. What I do know, though, is that he deserves a shot in this new offensive system that caters to his strengths with more capable offensive weapons. Hopefully, offensive newcomers Greg Little, Owen Marecic, and (fingers crossed) Montario Hardesty add to the Browns’ attack, with improvement from Brian Robiskie and Mohammed Massaquoi along with continued production from Peyton Hillis and Ben Watson changing the Browns’ fortunes.
More importantly, bringing in Kolb only brings in another young quarterback with some questions. Instead, why not give McCoy his chance and use that extra draft pick in another area of need next season? The Browns are still building, and they are not in the position to be trading away draft picks. At least, not this year anyway.
In the end, there are teams that are much more desperate for a young quarterback at this time, and you can count on one of them (Seattle, Arizona, Miami, Washington) mortgaging their future with the hope of landing their franchise quarterback. Personally, I think Kolb will be a solid, but not star quarterback in this league. The Browns should hitch their wagon to Colt McCoy at the very least for this year and reassess the situation heading into the draft next April.
For what it’s worth, Mary Kay Cabot mentioned this morning that a league source says that the Browns are not looking to pursue Kolb. But, what do you think, Browns fans? Does Kolb excite you more than McCoy? Would you be willing to give up a first-round pick to acquire him? Let us hear about it in the comments section.
(Photo: Steven M. Falk/Philly.com)
20 Comments
Id rather have McCoy and the extra 1st. If McCoy proves not to be the answer then we have 2 first rounders as ammo to help go get Luck.
Kolb and McCoy are pretty much the same guy. Kolb isnt worth giving up a first rounder for. Like the writer pointed out, their numbers were very similar and Kolb had much better players around him.
Kolb is not worth a first round pick
great article and i agree with all that is said on this site from the article to the comments Im a cardinal fan and i would like o see kolb in red but your all right he is not worth a 1st rounder and cleveland has 2 first rounds i say keeping your 2 1st rounders would have a much better inpact on the team than getting kolb. If AZ had 2 first rounders i shore wouldnt let them go for kolb well best of luck to the browns
GO CARDINALS!
The problem with any talk about trading for Kolb starts with the flawed assumption that the Eagles “have” to trade Kolb. I know the national media loves to beat that drum, but there’s no reason for the Eagles to make a move.
Michael Vick has only played 16 games in a season once in his career; why should anyone think that will change? Even if he is the starter this year in Philly, what are the odds that he makes it through the entire season. Wouldn’t the Eagles want a backup who knows there system and they can rely on?
There’s no rule saying you can’t have two viable quarterbacks on the roster.
and Kolb put up those numbers with better supporting cast.
Kirk,
Couldn’t have said it any better. McCoy deserves a chance. I believe he is the real deal. Arm strength aside, when was the last time a Browns QB was praised for his intangibles? If it was all about arm strength, Jeff George would be in the Hall of Fame.
I’ve begun to disregard everything Lombardi says.
The dude’s a Browns hater and a McCoy hater. He’s negative every time he talks about McCoy. The dude’s also never been right about a single prediction he’s made on NFLN as far as I can recollect.
why do we need kolb again? If we don’t think he’ll be a rodgers-level qb, why the heck would we kill colt’s confidence and get rid of a draft pick for him? And if he was as good as rodgers, why would the eagles be floating him out there? None of it makes sense. If colt is 90% the qb that kolb is, wouldn’t we be better off filling another hole with the 1st round pick and looking for our brady/manning/rodgers/brees later when we know for sure that colt won’t be THE guy?
I gotta agree with Bobby, give Colt a full year and then reassess the situation after the 2011 season is over.
Heckert knows Kolb inside and out….if he was interested he would have made the move last year when Kolb was on the table.
THIS JUST IN!!!! JOE HADEN TOO SLOW TO PLAY CORNERBACK IN THE NFL!!!
#INEEDAREALJOB
Kolb is so awesome that the eagles don’t need him. Sounds like a first rounder to me!
Give McCoy a chance. Let’s see give up a 1st round draft choice for a QB that is currently a backup to Vick….no thanks. Plus I’m a Wallace fan. He is a outstanding backup and has WC knowledge. Then the icing on the cake…..2 count um 2 1st round draft picks next year. Yeah, I know it’s been our battle cry for 10 years now “Wait until next year!!!” But all BS aside we are making huge strides and the Browns are finally on track.
Rome wasn’t built over night!!
GO DAWGS!!
Colt was rockin’ it and having a solid rookie year with some HUGE wins against some good teams. Then, the dreaded high ankle sprain on a 3rd QB on the same team in the same year! He was supposed to hold the clipboard the ENTIRE season! At the end of the year, the only quality running back on the rosrter (Hillis) was beat down and with limited options and a gimpy ankle and lingering shoulder issues, Colt under-achieved – I think we GET IT! Colt will bounce back and be solid in the West Coast offense in 2011!!! Go Dawgs! Let them be the “Tribe” in the NFL this year!!!
Regardless of whether Colt is good or not, it doesn’t make any sense to bring in Kolb. I have a longer rant, but I can’t keep it family friendly.
As it stands, I prefer the unknown we already have versus the unknown for which we’d have to pay.
Speaking of Kolb, does anyone else think about the Klobb from Goldeneye when they read his name?
Worst gun ever? Worst QB ever? Just sayin’
I am a bit of a Kolb fan and he was my favorite QB going into the 2007 draft (not that is saying much looking back).
I think he has shown the propensity for being able to handle running the WCO and has the ability to make all of the throws and to do so accurately.
However, trading a 1st round draft pick for a concussion-prone QB who is not necessarily a slam-dunk pickup while also realizing that Colt’s arm strength issues may very well have been health related would be folly.
Plus, even if Colt falls flat on his face, we’ll have a high 1st round pick in what should be a pretty good QB draft (Luck and Barkely to name the top2 guys).
Kolb may well be a decent QB in the NFL, but it won’t be with the Browns. We are to young at to many positions to give up the pick from Alanta. McCoy has to be given a chance in this new system. If he shines and doesn’t leave you wondering , here we go. If not we have those picks next year. Boy do we need to get these guys playing football .A football year goes buy real fast.
Can everyone please get over Kolb? That ship sailed a long time ago for us.