Eagles thinking long-term, Vikings, not-so-much

The Philadelphia Eagles have been one of the best-run – perhaps THE best run – NFL franchises since 1999.

One of the reasons they've been so successful is they don't let sentiment get in the way of business decisions. They know the NFL is a game for the young. So no matter how decorated the Eagles player (Hugh Douglas, Tre Thomas, Duce Staley, Brian Dawkins), the Eagles don't let past performance get in the way of moving on with the youth movement.

So while many football fans might not understand the Eagles alleged interest in trading Donovan McNabb, the rumors are consistent with how the Eagles have operated since 1999. McNabb will be 34 in November and is in the last year of his contract. Meanwhile backup Kevin Kolb will turn 26 in August.

The Eagles have done the math. It appears they think Kolb can play and realize Kolb has a decade of football ahead of him, while McNabb probably has four years of football ahead of him. And with that math staring them down, the Eagles are looking to trade McNabb now while they can still get some value for him and use that value (perhaps even a first round draft pick) to help them build the team's roster for the future.

As for the Vikings, it looks they haven't done the math, or at least are ignoring the math out of loyalty to Brett Favre.

This isn't surprising. Favre was sensational last year and was by all reports well-liked by his new teammates. If Favre has decided to come back, but just isn't telling anyone so he can improve the optics of wanting to skip training camp, the Vikings are happy to play along if it keeps him fresh and results in another year like Favre had in 2009.

But if this is the Vikings plan, I don't think it's the right thing to do for the Vikings team, or Vikings fans, long-term.

We all know Favre turns 41 in October and if he comes back it's for one year only. McNabb is getting up there in age as well, but as mentioned earlier, he's still probably got four years of very good play left in him.

So what's better for the long-term success of the Vikings? One year of Favre or four years of McNabb? Don't know about you, but I'll take four years over one.

If the Eagles are willing to explore trading McNabb for a top 42 pick in this year's draft, the Vikings should be pursuing this opportunity with gusto. McNabb represents more potential years of quality play at quarterback than Favre and, thus, more opportunities to contend for a Super Bowl.

If the Vikings don't pursue McNabb now and let someone else get him because Favre was coming back in 2010, they'll regret it later. And they'll regret it because McNabb will be playing quarterback for somebody else while this guy is playing quarterback for us.