At least Kevin Kolb got a $10.7 million signing bonus before his coach emasculated him. He's got that money, and little else, now that Andy Reid has done an about-face and installed Michael Vick as the Eagles starting quarterback.
It's quite possible that this is the right decision for the Eagles to win - and win now. Certainly Kolb did little to pad his resume during a shaky preseason and an even shakier half of football in the season opener against Green Bay.
But to hear Reid say last night in a hastily called news conference that "the future of Kevin Kolb is not slighted by this one bit," is laughable. Kolb's career in Philadlephia is in serious jeopardy. Reid shipped Donovan McNabb, his franchise quarterback for 11 years, to a division rival because, after three years as McNabb's apprentice, Kolb was ready to be the man.
Now he's not the man, not even close. Kolb has been stripped of his status as the starter after little more than a half of football during which Reid did him no favors by shuttling in Vick every other play. Kolb undoubtedly has lost a locker room that was staunchly in his corner even before the Eagles traded McNabb to Washington.
The Young Guns, as Jeffrey Lurie called the young offensive skill position players, wanted Kolb. Now that they've gotten a taste of Vick Take II, it'll be difficult, if not impossible, for them to shift their allegiance and their trust back to Kolb - if Kolb ever gets the chance again.
How can Kolb look at this as anything other than betrayal?
Reid said he spoke at great length with Kolb during Monday and Tuesday. Although Reid wouldn't divulge the details of those conversations, he said that Kolb "would like to be the starting quarterback of this football team, and I wouldn't expect anything less. This is one of the most competitive kids I've been around."
Reid also tried to spin this as a positive for Kolb and his "maturation process," saying a fourth year riding shotgun on the sideline "allows him to continue to learn, and he'll do that."
At this point, the only way Kolb will learn is by doing. And as the backup, he won't be playing and he won't be taking reps in practice with the first team. He'll be watching. And waiting. And understandably seething.
Kolb is the son of a coach and a football lifer who has been nothing but a team player since he walked into the NovaCare Complex as a second-round draft pick in 2007. But this has to be a devastating development.
