Photo by Mylar Bono.

Donovan McNabb appears to be on his way out of Washington, and allow me to shed half a tear that his tenure in burgundy and gold has ended so laughably.

McNabb was a big-name QB taken from a division rival (albeit for yet another mortgaged draft). Going into Week 8 against Detroit last year, the Redskins were actually a winning football team in spite of McNabb’s adequately mediocre play. Then he got benched for that final two-minute drill due to his conditioning. A few weeks later, he played like a man afraid of getting hit against the Giants. McNabb didn’t call all of those endarounds and screens, but he certainly didn’t do anything to make things better — like not overthrowing receivers and not throwing the ball at the ground. While it certainly makes sense for the Redskins to get rid of him, it just sucks that he didn’t play well, and seemed miserable in the process. Mainly, it sucks that John Beck and Rex Grossman are just a little bit more justified in talking like they’re the starter-in-waiting, if only due to attrition.

On the bright side, it is kind of surprising that this trade appears to have come about so easily. The Vikings would have appeared to be a likely destination for McNabb after the 2010 season, especially in the wake of Brett Favre’s most recent (and hopefully final) retirement. However, Minnesota drafted Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder in the first round, seemingly negating the need for a veteran of McNabb’s mindset. Arizona also emerged as a potential destination, but they apparently only have eyes for McNabb’s former backup in Philadelphia, Kevin Kolb. With the options decreasing, I expected the Skins to just cut McNabb and absorb the financial hit, like they’ll probably have to do with Albert Haynesworth. The fact that they’re getting anything for McNabb is just slightly better than expectations, and these days that makes for a happy Washington Redskins fan.

Moving forward, I wish I could say that the organization is perfectly positioning itself for a shot at Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck in the 2012 draft, but I don’t think they’re smart enough to be that intentionally bad.

For example, the Redskins remain intent on signing undersized formerly good players at critical skill positions, re-signing Santana Moss and signing Donte’ Stallworth. In a potentially savvy move and a welcome bad sign for Haynesworth, former Giant defensive tackle is Barry Cofield is set to realize his life’s goal of getting “the biggest contract of his life” and join the Redskins. We’re just getting started!