Holmgren not disappointed asking price for McNabb dropped

ATENEARS

Cleveland's Mike Holmgren not disappointed asking price for Donovan McNabb dropped

By Tony Grossi, The Plain Dealer

April 08, 2010, 6:29PM

The Browns did not seriously consider trading for former Philadelphia quarterback Donovan McNabb because they did not want to give up a draft pick in the first three rounds, President Mike Holmgren said Thursday.

Instead, the Browns signed Jake Delhomme on March 15 after the Carolina Panthers released him.

The Eagles traded McNabb to division-rival Washington on Sunday for a second-round draft pick (37th overall) and a conditional fourth-round pick in 2011 that can become a third-round pick.

Holmgren said the Browns never made a formal offer for McNabb prior to signing Delhomme. But at the time of their discussions, the Eagles' price tag was "absolutely higher" than what they eventually received from the Redskins.

"But it always is [in the early stages], and you're not sure it's going to change," Holmgren said. "But it was pretty high."

The Browns own five of the top 92 picks in the April 22-24 draft. Holmgren said he values that stockpile to fill other team needs.

"The only way I was going to take all those early draft picks in rounds 1, 2 and 3 and use them would be for a young draft choice that I thought could be the quarterback for the next 15 years," he said. "Otherwise, we have too many needs that those picks are going to help us with."

Holmgren said that when he initiated plans to rebuild the Browns' quarterback position, he had a list of 10 to 12 quarterbacks that might be available, including in the draft. Before releasing Derek Anderson, Holmgren traded a seventh-round draft pick in 2011 for Seattle backup quarterback Seneca Wallace.

"To take some of the pressure off immediately," Holmgren said of that deal. During that period, Holmgren and General Manager Tom Heckert, formerly of Philadelphia, had discussions with the Eagles, who made it known that any of their three quarterbacks were available. Holmgren said it never got serious because of the Eagles' high asking price. He would not identify what they wanted, but reports at the time said the price was a first-round draft pick.

After Carolina released Delhomme, the Browns signed him to a two-year deal and traded Brady Quinn to Denver for fullback Peyton Hillis, a sixth-round pick in 2011 and a conditional pick in 2012.

Delhomme reportedly will receive $7 million in 2010 -- most of which comes in a signing bonus. Delhomme, 35, has a $5.4 million base salary for 2011.

McNabb, 33, is scheduled to make $11.5 million in salary and bonuses in 2010. He is unsigned after 2010.

Holmgren said he was not disappointed that Philadelphia's price tag for McNabb dropped so dramatically after the Browns had committed to Delhomme.

"I'm not a big one at looking back," he said. "We did the [deal with Delhomme]. I'm pumped up. I really think this guy is going to bring something for a couple years and hopefully during that process we can find the next guy."

The Eagles have received some criticism for trading McNabb to a division rival. Holmgren said he hasn't spoken to Eagles coach Andy Reid, a friend and former protege, since the trade.

"Just as a general rule, I don't think it's ever a good deal to trade [with a division rival]," he said. "Clearly, Andy has such a great relationship with Donovan that it seemed to me that he did that because he cares for the kid and he wanted to do something for him. Now, Andy's nicer than I am."

Although Holmgren treasures owning five picks among the top 92, he said he is not averse to using them to move up in rounds 1 or 2. The Browns' top picks are at Nos. 7 and 38. They have three in the third round.

"We're going talk about it. That's a possibility," he said. "But it has to be something pretty slam-dunk. Otherwise, I think we can come out of, with those five picks, if we do it right, we should be able to get some real help, real depth, and build a young core."

nobuo

Hopefully we get those guys all signed before training camp too. Holdouts have really come back to hurt the guys we drafted.

ballpeen

@nobuo said:
Hopefully we get those guys all signed before training camp too. Holdouts have really come back to hurt the guys we drafted.

Like who????

Brady is the only real holdout I recall, and he hurt himself because he didn't have it.....3 years after a holdout isn't the reason the guy washed.

But I agree. The sooner we get players signed, the better. It can't hurt anything.

choco

wait...phill made quinn hold out. still didn't affect his suck though....

ATENEARS

Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote:

"11. The Browns had no way of knowing the price for Donovan McNabb would drop to a second-rounder this season and a possible third- or fourth-rounder in 2011. The Eagles wanted a first- and second-rounder when talking to the Browns a few months ago. But I'd have made the same deal as Washington did for McNabb. Rather than wait, the Browns signed Jake Delhomme and went to work on finding a quarterback in the draft. Still wish they could have found a way to bring McNabb here."

It's all timing and it seems that we didn't look into the acqusistion of McNabb thorough enough.

ballpeen

I think we were thorough.....it was simply the timing.

When we were sniffing around, we wouldn't pay the asking price.....nobody else did either.

In the mean time we had dropped Anderson and had full intent to get rid of Quinn, so when Dehlomme became available, it forced our hand....we knew we had to get somebody and couldn't wait around and maybe get a deal done with Philly.....

It is evident to me the team was strongly against having BQ on the team another year. Once they knew they had another qb on the roster, it didn't take long to send BQ to Denver.

Riffer X

They had to be proactive. You can't sit around waiting for someone to drop their demands. For one, they hold more cards than you and there can be someone else offer more.

These guys had no intentions of keeping Queen or Dumbass around another year, so when the opportunity to grab Jake and Seneca arose they got it done. I originally wanted McNabb in here, but all in all I'm glad we are where we are and still have our picks. These guys are stopgaps and backups holding the fort for a rookie to eventually take over, and I'm hoping that rookie is McCoy. It would be a phenomenal value pick even if they do move into the first to get him, and by next year he should be ready.