Dan Pompei

Donovan McNabb's exit from Philadelphia seems to be a matter of when, not if. No one expects that he will play his whole career for one team. There is too much water under the Ben Franklin bridge.

His exit will not be anytime soon. McNabb is entrenched as the Eagles starter for 2008, which he should be.

But even the Eagles seemed to acknowledge the murkiness of his future in Philadelphia when they selected Kevin Kolb with their second-round pick in the 2007 draft. A team that was entirely secure with their starting quarterback would not use such a high pick on another quarterback.

Why must McNabb move on at some point?

Durability
McNabb has not made it through a full season in three years. He currently has a shoulder problem — and it's June. There was the sports hernia. The knee. The ankle and the thumb. That's what happens to quarterbacks who have taken as many hits as he has.

Age
He's 31 and has played nine NFL seasons. At some point, the aging process will affect his abilities.

The city he plays in

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Athletes are not allowed to age gracefully in Philadelphia. The fans and media have high, sometimes unrealistic, expectations and can make it miserable for a player who is a few degrees shy of perfect. This town never has embraced McNabb — even on draft day he was booed. To Philly, he is the quarterback who failed to win the Super Bowl — not the one that got them there. If the Eagles don't re-emerge as an elite team in 2008, he may be booed more vociferously than ever.

The blame game
In the NFL, when a team doesn't win, somebody usually pays with his job. If the Eagles fail, coach Andy Reid has earned the right to be safe. He probably will go nowhere. His coordinators, Marty Mornhinweg and Jim Johnson, also appear to be on solid ground. That leaves the quarterback as the most logical scapegoat.

Yet, McNabb remains one of the top 10 quarterbacks in the game. He is an above-average passer who has thrown to below-average receivers for a good portion of his career. He is a winner. He is a leader.

If the Eagles decide it's time to go with Kolb after the season, there will be a market for McNabb. He should be able to play another four years or so at a reasonably high level. McNabb is a proven commodity at a position with too few of them.

Let's make a list of quarterbacks we definitely would take ahead of him.

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Tom Brady and Peyton Manning are givens. Most people, like me, would pick Carson Palmer, Ben Roethlisberger, Drew Brees and Tony Romo ahead of McNabb. Matt Hasselbeck is very comparable to McNabb, though McNabb probably has more arm talent. It might be fashionable to take Eli Manning ahead of McNabb, but I wouldn't until I see more of what I saw in his last five games.

After that, there aren't many quarterbacks in McNabb's class. Marc Bulger would be if he could stay healthy. Brett Favre would have been. Other than that, it's mostly a lot of potential and possibilities.

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