After a while, all of the “Kevin Kolb trade is close” reports started to remind us of the reports that said the “labor deal is close.”

Thankfully, this deal didn’t take as long to close.

Adam Caplan of FOXSports.com reports Kolb is headed to Arizona in exchange for a second-round pick and 2009 Pro Bowl cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.

That’s a ton to give up for an unproven quarterback, but the Cardinals were only getting started betting their future on Kolb. Caplan reports Kolb will sign a five-year, $63 million contract with $20 million guaranteed.

(Kolb can head to Arizona now, but league rules indicate he can’t start practicing until the league year starts on August 4.)

The guaranteed money is less than Kolb was reportedly asking for, but still more than a quarterback with seven uneven career starts. Houston made a similar deal for Matt Schaub which worked out, although they didn’t give up a solid young starting cornerback in that deal.

What a gamble. The move will define the rest of the Ken Whisenhunt/Rod Graves era in Arizona.

They were absolutely desperate for a quarterback solution in the desert, and they acted like it.

(And with that, I’ll cede the floor to Florio who is fired up and will be chiming in on the deal too.)

Gregg Rosenthal wrote:

The Eagles are getting ripped off. There is no way in hell that a promising, potential franchise quarterback is worth only a second-round pick and a cornerback with motivational and tackling issues. Philadelphia should have easily been able to obtain Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and a first-rounder. Rodgers-Cromartie is highly talented, but plays when he wants to play. That being said, the Eagles have gotten the most out of a similar character in Jason Peters, so maybe Andy Reid can work his magic on the former Tennessee State product.

As for the Cardinals, they got their man. Kolb and Larry Fitzgerald have worked out a lot this offseason, so they're familiar with each other. Kolb still has some growing to do, but he could easily develop into the franchise quarterback Arizona has been looking for since Kurt Warner's retirement.

Walter Cherepisnky wrote:

Not quite the reaction I expected from the owner of walterfootball.com

Originally Posted by: Packers_Finland 

There was no way the Eagles were getting a first round pick for Kevin Kolb. Now Jimmy Clausen is a whole other story. [sarcasm]

Originally Posted by: porky88