Donovan McNabb Trade Rumors Dry Up

All those rumors about the Philadelphia Eagles trading Donovan McNabb have slowed to a crawl.

Slideshow: The McNabb Era In Philadelphia

One reason could be that Eagles head coach Andy Reid and team president Joe Banner are taking some time off, giving NFL beat reporters a chance to wait until they get back to Philadelphia.

But more likely are two facts: other NFL teams aren’t publicly showing interest in McNabb through signaling their own local beat reporters, and McNabb’s contract will make it difficult to trade him.

As NFL Network Mike Mayock analyst reported last week, and we discussed in detail here , McNabb’s $6.2 million guaranteed roster bonus on May 5 doesn’t give teams much of an incentive to make a trade offer before May 5.

So if a team like Oakland or Buffalo wanted McNabb before the draft, they would be on the hook for $11.2 million to pay McNabb for 2010.

And any such team would need to send the Eagles a player or a draft pick, in addition to picking up the $11.2 million tab.

And as Mayock pointed out, McNabb has no incentive to agree to a contract extension, which a team would probably required if it were to give the Eagles a draft pick or player for McNabb.

That said, there weren’t any McNabb trade rumors floated out by newspaper Web Sites or “NFL sources” over the weekend.

With almost one month to go until draft day, there will be more rumors.

Aside from the stories about McNabb getting traded for a draft pick, look for some rumors about McNabb being traded straight up for another star player.

That would at least free up the Eagles to play Kevin Kold this season, and mabe get a player who would agree to a contract extension or who could be "franchised."

The name of Oakland cornerback Nnamdi Asamoah is out there, whom the Oakland Raiders are due to pay $17 million in 2010.

Rams safety O.J. Atogwe is also out there. Atogwe will get a payday somewhere.