Senior NFL.com analyst Pat Kirwan suggested in a recent article that now might be the best time for the Eagles to trade Michael Vick.

Michael Vick said he expected to be a starting quarterback when he reentered the NFL. When I look at some of the quarterback situations around the league, I think he’s right, but I don’t really see him as a fit in Philadelphia after watching Kevin Kolb for the past two weeks.

The return of Donovan McNabb, as well as having Jeff Garcia under contract, makes Vick a guy to consider trading. He saw limited duty in his first real game and he will get better with more work, but his contract next year probably means he will not be an Eagle after 2009.
In the past two weeks, Kolb has completed 55 of 85 passes for 718 yards (8.44 yards per attempt) with four touchdowns, three interceptions and just two sacks. Any young QB that only gets sacked once every 43.5 attempts and distributes the ball to seven different receivers every game is the future — and he’s a whole lot cheaper than Vick.

In Vick’s career, he has been sacked an average of once every 10 pass attempts. And when it comes to the Wildcat, receivers DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin can handle those duties if the Eagles care to continue using it.

I don’t think there are any real worries about the fallout from Vick’s off-the-field issues anymore and maybe a team like the Raiders would love to have him on the roster. He has to be worth a decent draft pick. Garcia is the veteran backup the Eagles need for insurance. When the Eagles activated him to the 45-man roster this weekend, they confirmed they see him that way, too.

Garcia was just released so that the Eagles could make room for middle linebacker Jeremiah Trotter, although I don’t think that would change Kirwan’s mind regarding Philly trading Vick.

Kirwan suggests that Vick “has to be worth a decent draft pick.” Not sure I agree with that. He hasn’t shown enough in his limited time back to convince any team that he can be their starting quarterback and no team is going to part with a draft pick just to use Vick in the Wildcat.

One thing I do side with Kirwan on is how teams don’t have to worry about the fallout from Vick’s off-field issues. The Eagles essentially took the first blow and they didn’t receive much criticism. But again, I don’t see any team parting with a 2nd or 3rd rounder (what I would deem a “decent” draft pick) to add Vick just based on what we’ve seen so far.

Jay Glazer reported on his Twitter page that Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb will miss this Sunday’s game against the Saints with a fractured rib. After that, it’s unclear how long he’ll be out.

Philadelphia will likely start Kevin Kolb under center this week, although rumor has it that the team might re-sign A.J. Feeley to compete with Kolb in practice. Either way, the Eagles will suffer a downgrade at quarterback.

The Eagles are a Super Bowl contender this year, but not without McNabb. Kolb has struggled in the brief opportunities he’s recieved over the past couple years and it’s looking more and more that the former second rounder was a bust pick for Philly.

Of course, if McNabb misses an extended period of time and Kolb struggles, Michael Vick comes off his suspension in Week 4 and could start. But chances are that Andy Reid would stick with Kolb for as long as he can, seeing as how Vick hasn’t played in two years outside of a couple preseason games.

This will be an interesting situation to watch develop over the next couple weeks.

Michael Vick entered Thursday night’s game against the Jaguars to a rousing ovation and then proceeded to complete 4-of-4 passes for 19 yards and rushed for one yard on one rushing attempt.

From ESPN.com’s recap of the Eagles’ 33-32 win:

“It’s been a long journey for me,” Vick said. “I just want to do it right this time around.”

“It was awesome. When I was running out onto the field I was listening to see what the reaction was going to be,” Vick said. “I was very pleased. I really didn’t expect that reaction, but I was very thankful.”

So much for all those protesters and anti-Vick factions. Some fans even chanted “We want Vick!” after he left the game.

It’s no shock that fans in Philadelphia embraced Vick now that he’s an Eagle. The real test will be when he goes on the road.

As far as his performance went, to say that Vick looked sharp would be a stretch. Outside of a 13-yard completion to Hank Baskett, all of his pass attempts were short and he looked hesitant on the one rush attempt.

But Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg are smart if they’re going to limit Vick to read-and-react-type plays like they did on Thursday night. He never developed into a great pocket passer, so if the Eagles plan on using him in the Wildcat or as a decoy, then they’re adding a pretty good offensive weapon this year. (Especially once Vick shakes off the rust.)

…not really – Michael Vick just got The Onion treatment:

PHILADELPHIA—Newly acquired Eagles quarterback Michael Vick was “humiliated” Tuesday after an iron he had left unattended inside the team’s locker room sparked a blaze that eventually burned Lincoln Financial Field to the ground. “I just wanted to press some shirts so I could look nice and make a good impression on the team, but now everybody is going to hate me,” said Vick, choking back tears as he surveyed the still smoldering remains of the $518 million stadium. “I didn’t mean to do it. I tried really hard to put out the fire, but when I smothered the flames they just got bigger and everything started burning. I’m super sorry. I promise it won’t happen again.” Vick, who said he did not notify police or the fire department because it would violate the conditions of his reinstatement, added that the stadium might be fine once it cools down.

That’s pretty funny.

On a related note, Andy Reid said that Vick would make his Eagles debut next Thursday against the Jaguars.

According to a report by Comcast Sportsnet in Philadelphia, the Eagles are close to signing quarterback Donovan McNabb to a new contract.

Under his current deal, the 11th-year veteran is scheduled to earn $9.2 million this season and $10 million in 2010. The two sides had been discussing an extension before agreeing to focus on reworking the two years remaining on his current deal.

Earlier this offseason, the 32-year-old McNabb reportedly indicated he wouldn’t negotiate a new deal until he saw the moves the team made in the offseason. Apparently, he’s satisfied, although he has yet to hold a press conference this offseason to discuss the matter.

In 2002, McNabb signed a 12-year, $115 million extension that had him under contract through 2013. The last three years of that extension were voided, though, when McNabb reached certain incentive clauses.

Last season, his 10th in the league, McNabb completed 345 of 571 pass attempts for 3,916 yards – all franchise records.

Football fans seem to either love or hate McNabb and I have been someone that has always been in his corner. Some Philly fans have chastised him ever since he was drafted and love to harp on everything and anything that they feel he does remotely wrong. But the guy has been incredibly productive throughout his entire career and outside of a couple brutal games in the middle of the season, he proved last year that he still has the talent and ability to lead the Eagles deep into the postseason.

It looks like all of the Kevin Kolb fans will have to wait a little longer to see the young QB get his shot to be a starter.

The Eagles received great news Friday as running back Brian Westbrook underwent successful ankle surgery and is expected to be back to full health by the start of the regular season.

Andy Reid said he doesn’t feel the need for the Eagles to add another running back, even though Westbrook’s backups are rookie second round pick “Shady” McCoy and former Dolphin Lorenzo Booker. There was thought that Philly could sign a veteran like Warrick Dunn, but that seems doubtful now after Reid’s comments.

It’s a risk for the Eagles not to bring in another back this summer just in case Westbrook has a setback, but obviously they feel confident that McCoy and Booker will benefit from getting the maximum amount of reps in camp and preseason. The Eagles faced a similar dilemma last season when receiver DeSean Jackson got an opportunity to play because of injuries to guys in front of him on the depth chart and he excelled.

McCoy is an intriguing prospect. He’s not considered to be an every down back, but he has explosive talent and could be a viable addition to the Eagles’ offense. McCoy would be best used as a change-of-pace back to complement Westbrook so he doesn’t wear down in his first year, but at least he’ll see plenty of opportunities to show what he can do.

According to a report by Comcast Sportsnet in Philadelphia, Eagles running back Brian Westbrook will be sidelined until at least Week 1 of the regular season due to a high ankle sprain.

Comcast SportsNet reported that Brian Westbrook was examined by ankle specialist Dr. Mark Myerson in Baltimore on Wednesday and may need to undergo a procedure to clean out the ankle. Either way, according to the report, Westbrook is done until the start of the regular season.

The only official comment thus far from the Eagles came from offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg who said that he wasn’t “concerned” about the injury after discussing it with Westbrook on Tuesday afternoon.

While working out recently, the ankle began to bother Westbrook and he contacted head athletic trainer Rick Burkholder to check on it. Andy Reid said on Tuesday that Westbrook would see a doctor, but again, there has been no official update from the team since.

Considering he’ll turn 30 in early September and averaged just 2.9 yards per carry in Philly’s last six games of the 2008 season, this is incredibly damper news for the Eagles. As the article states, the team hasn’t officially stated that Westbrook will miss camp and preseason, but let’s assume for a moment that the report is true.

Philly did draft “Shady” McCoy in the second round this year, but he wasn’t considered a prospect that could be an every down back and he had injury issues himself while at PITT. The Eagles also have Lorenzo Booker, who is a poor man’s Westbrook but like McCoy, isn’t considered an every down back. In seven games for the Dolphins last year, Booker rushed for 125 yards on 28 carries.

If Westbrook is out for the rest of the summer, the good news is that McCoy and Booker will receive plenty of reps. But nobody should be surprised if the team signs a veteran as insurance. Edgerrin James is still available, as is Deuce McAllister, although he’s expected to be suspended for the first four games of the 2009 season, so it’s doubtful the Eagles would add him. Another cheap option would be to bring back Tony Hunt, who was released last October by the Eagles but is a player that has experience in the offense.

It’ll be interesting to see if the team makes this news about Westbrook official.