Just two weeks removed from being relegated to the bench, Donovan McNabb has expressed a desire to stay the course with the Redskins next season, if he can gain some assurance that he’ll be the team’s starter from head coach Mike Shanahan.
Despite not having much to work with aside from McNabb as of right now, Shanahan has yet to show that he’s interested in offering close to the guarantee McNabb is looking for, and given the unceremonious way that McNabb was removed from his starting position, finding common ground isn’t likely at this point.
Obviously McNabb has a significant interest in staying put next season, as he stands to make a large sum of money if he’s able to play out a greater part of the contract extension he signed earlier this season, so it stands to reason that he would want to mend fences with Shanahan headed into the off-season. That said, the Redskins clearly feel that McNabb’s play has regressed to a point of him being a detractor to the offense, or they would have left him in the starting role through the end of the year, making the assurance McNabb is asking for improbable at best.
Instead, the Redskins seem to be content with having Rex Grossman handle the starting role going forward and focus on finding a new quarterback via the draft or possibly in free agency. If at all possible, Washington would prefer to trade McNabb away rather than release him with no compensation coming back to the club, but the current parameters of McNabb’s contract will almost certainly be a detriment to any such deal coming to fruition.
If McNabb is able to convince the Redskins to release him sooner rather than later this off-season, he’ll likely have a few teams pounding on his door figuratively speaking, in short fashion, including Minnesota, San Francisco, Buffalo, Cleveland, Oakland, and possibly Carolina.
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Written by Chris Kolb
Topics: Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, Cleveland Browns, Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders, San Francisco 49ers, Washington Redskins