Vikings, McNabb work out contract to seal trade with 'Skins

Donovan McNabb's arrival in Minnesota has been a rumored scenario for at least five years, ever since Brad Childress left the Philadelphia Eagles to take over the Vikings in 2006.

Childress is long gone now, but another former Eagles assistant -- new Vikings coach Leslie Frazier -- helped make those rumors a reality Wednesday, just in time for McNabb to help bridge the gap from Brett Favre to rookie Christian Ponder.

The Vikings acquired McNabb from the Redskins for a sixth-round draft pick in 2012 and a conditional sixth-rounder in 2013, two people with knowledge of the transaction told The Associated Press.

In order to make the trade happen, McNabb had to agree to re-work the five-year, $78 million contract he signed with the Redskins because the Vikings didn't have enough salary-cap room for him with the way the deal is structured. NFL Network insider Michael Lombardi confirmed that a restructured deal was in place, but the terms weren't immediately available.

McNabb gives the Vikings a veteran quarterback while they groom Ponder, who was drafted 12th overall out of Florida State in April, to be the team's long-term answer at the position. The original preference for Frazier and the Vikings was to have Ponder start Week 1 in San Diego, with a capable veteran backup there just in case.

But that was before the NFL lockout prevented players from working out with coaches all summer and put Ponder behind schedule in his development. That made it more important for the Vikings to add an accomplished, experienced quarterback they believe can win games with a roster full of veterans while Ponder gets up to speed.

From the sounds of it, Ponder isn't conceding anything just yet.

"Excited to have McNabb join," Ponder wrote Wednesday morning on Twitter. "Will learn a lot from a Pro Bowler. But that doesn't mean I'm not still fighting to start week 1!"

The trade ends a tumultuous one-year run in Washington for McNabb. The 12-year veteran was benched twice last season and threw 14 touchdown passes and 15 interceptions in 13 games. He completed 58 percent of his passes for 3,377 yards, and his agent, Fletcher Smith, publicly sparred with coach Mike Shanahan and offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan.

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Even before the deal was completed, some Redskins players already were treating McNabb's departure as a foregone conclusion. The writing has been on the wall for some time in Washington, and news of the discussions with the Vikings only served to validate that feeling.

"You see a guy that's been a Pro Bowler six times," Redskins linebacker Lorenzo Alexander said. "He was going to come in and really help us win more games, but it didn't work out. Relationships broke down, and now he's not here, but you can't really focus on that. You've got to continue to move forward."

Childress coached McNabb in Philadelphia from 1999 to 2005 before leaving to become the coach in Minnesota. From the minute Childress arrived in the Twin Cities, it was assumed that McNabb would one day join him in purple.

But McNabb stayed put with the Eagles, and the Vikings coaxed Favre out of retirement -- twice. Favre led the Vikings to the NFC title game after the 2009 season, but he had a disastrous, injury- and scandal-plagued campaign in 2010 as Minnesota sunk to the bottom of the NFC North.

When Frazier took over as the full-time head coach in January, he said it was time for the team to end its penchant for bringing in retreads and past-their-prime veterans and develop a young quarterback from the start.

The Vikings surprised many when they drafted Ponder so early in the first round and immediately said he would compete for the starting job right away.

Ponder was billed as the most NFL-ready quarterback in the 2011 class, but not being able to work with new offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave and most of his teammates at various minicamps and organized team activities throughout the summer makes it a bigger challenge for him to be ready to start Sept. 11 in San Diego.

Ponder said last week during a workout at the University of Minnesota that he still was aiming to be the starter from Day 1.

"That's what I'm pushing for," he said. "That's what I'm hoping for. So we'll see what happens."

Bringing in McNabb does show veterans such as Adrian Peterson, Antoine Winfield, Jared Allen and Kevin Williams that the team is still in a "win now" mode, and it was unclear Wednesday night just how the pecking order at quarterback will play out.

"I would have loved to have him back here," Alexander said. "But things just didn't turn out the right way, and he'll go on and eventually be a Hall of Famer."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Shanahan admits 'tough decisions' ahead with McNabb, roster

Redskins coach Mike Shanahan has learned how to dance around the Donovan McNabb question.

Even when a 7-year-old fan asked the coach about the quarterback's future with the team, Shanahan wouldn't take the bait, Comcast SportsNet Washington reported Friday.

"Do you think Donovan McNabb will be back on the Redskins?" the boy inquired during a youth football camp in Loudoun County, Md.

"Until I get a chance to talk to Donovan and I go through the scenario with him, I really can't share it with the public," Shanahan said.

"Those are the decisions that are always tough for a coach, because you have to make decisions that you feel are in the best interest of the team."

Said Shanahan: "I love Donovan McNabb. ... He's one of the best guys you'll ever be around. You cannot find a better person in the world. The thing that you do when you put a football team together is you sit down and make some tough decisions, and I will sit down with him once we are able to talk."

McNabb, traded to the Redskins from Philadelphia in early 2010, joined some of his former Eagles teammates for a workout last month in Cherry Hill, N.J.

The veteran signal-caller more than likely will be on the move again once the NFL lockout is lifted. Shanahan benched McNabb for the final three games of last season in favor of Rex Grossman.

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McNabb move shows Shanahan, 'Skins still learning each other

ASHBURN, Va. -- Just when the Washington Redskins were starting to get a decent feel for life under coach Mike Shanahan, along came his benching of Donovan McNabb, a move so baffling that even players admitted they couldn't figure it out.

"I thought McNabb was hurt," linebacker Lorenzo Alexander said. "I would never expect in a million years that he would be taken out of a game, being who he is and what he's done and his resume. You just don't see that. You wouldn't see a Tom Brady coming off the field. It was surprising, shocking, but (Shanahan) had his reasons for doing it."

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Had Jim Zorn pulled such a move -- yanking a six-time Pro Bowl quarterback for unimpressive Rex Grossman in the final two minutes with the game on the line against a one-win Detroit Lions team -- Redskins owner Dan Snyder probably would have moved even more quickly to hire a consultant out of Bingo-calling retirement to oversee the head coach's work.

But Shanahan has more cachet, more power, more room for error than the coach who was fired after last year's 4-12 season. Two Super Bowl titles with the Denver Broncos gives Shanahan plenty of leeway in the rebuilding process, and it turns out he might need it. As the McNabb episode shows, the Redskins are still in the getting-to-know-you stage with the demanding coach who likes to control everything.

"We've only been with the guy for six, eight months," Alexander said, "so you've still got to learn his personality, what he likes, what he does, what's the method of his madness -- because we haven't seen the results quite yet from it. But once you start being successful with a guy like that, you understand what he's doing, you become more comfortable and you understand, 'OK, this is why he's doing this.'"

Added guard Artis Hicks: "There's going to be a feeling-out process. It's going to be pretty much for the length of the season, and we're still going through that."

Some of the more practical directives were understood from the start. Don't dare show up late for a meeting. Learn your playbook. Look sharp in practice. Any violation is met with the infamous Shanahan glare.

"There have been times at practice where I might have missed a guy, and I look back and he's just giving me that look," Hicks said. "He don't have to say much. That look says it all. You can look in his eyes, and that's all you need."

If some of Shanahan's words and deeds have raised eyebrows, that's to be expected. After all, he spent 14 years with the Broncos, an eternity in the coaching business and more than long enough for Shanahan to firmly establish his way of doing things for everyone inside the locker room and throughout the community at large. Bumps in the road were inevitable with a change of venue.

Shanahan started well in his first major test of wills, refusing to budge in a standoff against disgruntled defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth. Even the players had called Haynesworth selfish, so they more than understood when Shanahan made the two-time All-Pro pass a conditioning test and work his way up from second string.

Shanahan also put his players on notice that he's monitoring their words. He had a chat with Chris Cooley after the tight end mentioned on the radio something about Haynesworth working with the scout team in practice, a strategic no-no in the eyes of the coach. When the media reported something in a way Shanahan didn't like leading into the first game of the season, he didn't pull reporters aside for a constructive chat to sort out the problem -- he lectured them twice in three days, on the record with cameras rolling, about the need to preserve the team's "competitive advantage."

"I don't want to be called upstairs and talked to," fullback Mike Sellers said. "You've got to watch what you say. We joke about it. 'Now, watch what you say.' It's just one of those things. You've really got to tread lightly."

And it doesn't seem to matter if you're an undrafted rookie or the high-paid Haynesworth.

"You want to be on your Ps and Qs," Alexander said. "And you don't want to be a guy that's caught in his doghouse. He wants it a certain way, and if you don't give it to him, he'll find somebody else and he really doesn't care who you are. You can see that in meetings, how he talks to people. He's the same way from top to bottom. He expects a certain level of professionalism."

Despite the early hiccups, things were starting to hum along as the weeks passed. The Redskins have made it to 4-4 at the bye, equaling their number of wins from last season, despite major problems along the offensive line and at receiver, plus a defense that creates turnovers but gives up lots of yards. Players have credited Shanahan for creating an atmosphere of belief that they can win the close, ugly games they would often lose under Zorn.

But pulling McNabb? It's a head-scratcher that could divide the locker room, outrage the fans and alienate the quarterback for whom Shanahan gave up two draft picks. Shanahan then made things worse by giving inconsistent explanations for the benching. Shanahan's son, the offensive coordinator, gave a version that was flat-out contradicted by McNabb.

Perhaps it's just a matter of a coach being new in town and not yet fully understood. Shanahan, for what it's worth, believes he is on the right track, at least with his players.

"I think all the players have a good feel of what we want as an organization," Shanahan said. "What we're trying to do on the football field and off, the standard at which we practice and which we play at, and I like the direction we're going."

Redskins defensive coordinator Jim Haslett, who once turned around a losing franchise as coach of the New Orleans Saints, said it takes a while to shift a team culture.

"You don't just turn the football team around, you've got to turn the whole organization around," Haslett said. "Because there's a lot of people in that organization, including secretaries, administrative people, people in the building that are negative because you've been losing so many years. So you've either got to get rid of the people that are the negatives, and I'm talking about everybody, and you've got to start over and bring people in that want to build a winner -- or you've got to change people. The whole organization has to feel that they're part of winning.

"When I first went to New Orleans, you didn't want to be out in public because you knew you weren't very good. When we left, I felt they had a great feeling about themselves: 'Hey, this is a good football team.' They felt proud about being out in the community. That's in the process we're in right now."

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

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McNabb guides Redskins to win in Philly return

PHILADELPHIA -- Donovan McNabb made enough plays to help the Washington Redskins beat the Eagles 17-12 Sunday in the quarterback's return to Philadelphia.

McNabb was traded to the Redskins in April after 11 seasons with the Eagles, a team he took to five NFC championship games and one Super Bowl. He was greeted by a standing ovation from the fans when introduced before the game, then threw for one touchdown in lifting Washington (2-2) into a tie with Philadelphia atop the NFC East.

Kevin Kolb, originally scheduled to be McNabb's successor, played most of the game after Michael Vick hurt his ribs and chest. Vick took Kolb's job after Kolb sustained a concussion in the season opener.

Chris Cooley caught a 31-yard TD pass from McNabb, and Ryan Torain had a 12-yard TD run. Brent Celek had a 5-yard TD reception for Philadelphia with 4:10 remaining.

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Eagles fans applaud former QB McNabb in return to Philly

PHILADELPHIA -- Donovan McNabb has drawn his share of cheers -- and boos -- at Lincoln Financial Field.

So McNabb couldn't be sure how he would be greeted as the Washington Redskins' new quarterback on his return to Philadelphia.

The response Sunday was as kind as the City of Brotherly Love can be: a standing ovation.

When McNabb was the final Redskin introduced before the game, nearly everyone in the stadium -- many wearing No. 5 Eagles jerseys -- stood in tribute to the quarterback who led Philadelphia to five NFC title games before being traded to Washington in April.

McNabb raised his right arm to salute the folks in the stands and, soon after, embraced his successor, Michael Vick, near the 40-yard line. McNabb supported the Eagles' signing of Vick as his backup a year ago.

Vick left at the end of the first quarter with a rib injury.

Philly can be rough on its sports figures, but its fans also are knowledgeable enough to recall the good times. McNabb brought them plenty of those for 11 seasons, and fans responded Sunday with an outpouring of kindness not often associated with this city.

Of course, there were no cheers when McNabb immediately led the Redskins on a 39-yard drive to a go-ahead touchdown. But there was lots of happiness in the stands when tight end Fred Davis couldn't haul in McNabb's long throw on his first pass midway through the first quarter.

And near silence after McNabb's perfect TD pass to Chris Cooley made it 14-0.

During warmups, McNabb exchanged hugs with several Philadelphia players and spoke for a while with kicker David Akers, the only remaining Eagle who was with the team when the quarterback joined it -- to a chorus of boos at the draft -- in 1999.

The prospect of venom being spewed at McNabb for never actually winning a Super Bowl certainly existed Sunday. There was plenty of nastiness in the parking lots, but no hatefest inside the stadium.

Outside the Linc, the biggest pocket of protest was the "boo parade" organized by WIP radio personality Angelo Cataldi -- the same man who put together the 1999 outing to the draft in New York when the Eagles selected McNabb instead of running back Ricky Williams. About 35 people, including two men on stilts, a juggler and one dressed as a clown, walked to the Spectrum next door while voicing their displeasure with the quarterback they dubbed "Dontovan" and 'McChoke."

"The lazy, national media harped on the (draft-day booing) for 11 years and ignored everything else," Cataldi said. "They wanted a circus today, so we're giving them a circus."

But many fans recalled the five NFC Championship Games that McNabb led the Eagles to; they won only one of those, then lost to the New England Patriots in the 2005 Super Bowl. And they remembered all the playoff berths: eight, seven for which McNabb was the starting quarterback.

"For as long as he played here and the success he had, he deserves some kind of respect from the fans and the team," said Kyle DeRiemer of Philadelphia. "But I'd really like to see him before the game go up near (Eagles coach) Andy Reid and then walk right past him and not greet him."

That didn't happen, then McNabb really made Reid feel uncomfortable by leading Washington to a two-touchdown lead.

Standing next to DeRiemer, wearing a Jason Taylor Redskins jersey, was Ashlen Stayrook of Phoenix. She had no trouble defending McNabb.

"He should feel like he's coming home," she said. "I don't think he wanted to leave Philadelphia. But I think it will be a mixture of love and hate."

Once the teams kicked off, McNabb became an enemy quarterback again, regarded the same way as Eli Manning or Tony Romo would be.

McNabb's legacy in Philly still can't be determined.

"I think a lot of fans feel McNabb didn't fit in with the fabric of Philadelphia," Dan Perkins said. "He didn't show that outward emotion that a Charles Barkley or an Allen Iverson did. The fans responded to them because of that. They didn't see that from Donovan, and that's what they remember."

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

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