Playoff success could limit QB options

With the success of Arizona and Philadelphia in the playoffs, it would seem like their quarterbacks will return for another campaign in 2009. Less than a month ago, both Kurt Warner and Donovan McNabb were considered viable candidates to sign with another team like the Vikings.

About a month ago, the Vikings were in the middle of a flurry in the rumor mill as it pertained to a couple of veteran quarterbacks. A month later, thanks to a postseason run for both remaining NFC teams, that talk would appear to be all but dead.

In Philadelphia, they were eulogizing the career of Donovan McNabb. Briefly benched, the Philly media was at its salty best – burying McNabb alive and shoveling dirt into his hastily prepared grave. Despite looking hideous in his brief playing opportunities, second-year man Kevin Kolb was anointed as the next big thing and McNabb was heading out the door.

A funny happened on the way to the crematorium – McNabb rallied his team into the playoffs and has taken out the Vikings and Giants. His future not only looks secure in Philadelphia, it would seem to be a foregone conclusion that he will be back with the Eagles armed with a new contract.

Much the same was true in December with the Cardinals. Kurt Warner followed up a brutal performance against the Vikings with one of the worst games on record in a blowout loss to the Patriots. The Cardinals were accused of being a fraudulent organization that was only in the playoffs because the NFC West so profoundly bad.

A funny thing happened on the way to the golf course. The Cardinals won their season finale against the Seahawks and have looked dominant in wins over the Falcons and Panthers. Warner has been the trigger man of a born-again offense and his position in Arizona has solidified. What looked to be an exodus from the desert be a free agent now has all the earmarks of a player that will be re-signed or even franchised if need be.

For Vikings fans who were hoping for a change at the quarterback position in 2009, the developments in the NFC playoffs couldn’t have turned out any worse. Had the Eagles or Cardinals been one-and-done in the postseason, the chances they would have a different starting QB in 2009 seemed all but assured. Now just the opposite is true.

If the Vikings are going to make a change at QB, it likely isn’t going to come from two of the more likely sources just a month ago.

TUESDAY NOTES

The Leslie Frazier U.S. Tour makes its latest stop today in Los Angeles, where Frazier is scheduled to meet with Rams officials. He is one of five finalists, according to a report in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, along with interim head coach Jim Haslett, Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan and Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.

Thanks to the upsets in the NFC playoffs, the Vikings will have the 22nd pick in the 2009 draft. Originally slated to pick 23rd, both the Cardinals and Eagles had worse records than the Vikings and were supposed to pick before them. But, by league rule the two teams in the Super Bowl pick 31st and 32nd in the draft. One of those two teams will have to make it, bumping them down to one of the last two spots and pushing all the other playoff teams up a notch.

The NFL lost one of its true greats Monday when Tony Dungy announced his retirement. Dungy, who set records in Indianapolis by winning 12 or more games six years running, will be remembered as a great coach. But for those of us who had the pleasure of working with him, he is an even better human being than he is a coach. He will be missed by all those whose lives he has touched over the years.