Inside The Bills

Youth likely to be served for Bills

ESPN NFC West blogger Mike Sando put together a list of NFL clubs projected starters on offense and defense for 2013 to see which teams this coming season would have the youngest average starting lineups in the league. Not surprisingly Buffalo was near the top of the list.

The Bills ranked as the fifth-youngest projected overall starting lineup (offense and defense). Their average age on defense was also fifth-youngest with their offense being 10th youngest.

Though the specific starters projected for each club is not listed, with their offense ranking only 10th youngest it’s probably safe to assume that Sando has Kevin Kolb beginning the 2013 season as the starter at quarterback.

Fan Friday 5-3

Well Bills fans it was a heck of a draft, one that I think will serve the team very well based on their positional needs. Let’s get to the latest edition of your questions from AskChris@bills.nfl.net and on Twitter @ChrisBrownBills.

1 – Hi Chris,

Thanks for your coverage of the NFL Draft this past weekend. But of course I have a question. I’ve been watching video on Jeff Tuel and I can’t for the life of me understand why or how this kid wasn’t drafted…I mean, I’m glad he wasn’t because that allowed Buffalo to pick him up. But this kid can make ALL the throws, throws that a lot of NFL QBs can’t. He has a GREAT arm, he’s really athletic, can thread the needle, throw on the run, and throw touch passes on the run. Just hope he gets a legit shot to compete and takes full advantage of it. What do you think?

Thanks,
Jerry
BillsFanInFl

CB: There’s no question that he has the physical tools to play in the league. What soured NFL clubs on Tuel was he had trouble with injuries. Personally I thought some of his injuries were related to the poor protection and poor talent around him. He does have a solid arm and as Bills scout Brad Forsyth described, “sneaky athleticism.”

The fact that he lost his starting job as a senior scared off NFL clubs. To me he was a victim of circumstance more than anything else. I’ve got no problem giving a prospect with his tool a chance. He just has to stay healthy.

2 – Hello Chris,

Nice call on the EJ pick in the first round…I have a question about Byrd and his agent…I have heard rumors that they are asking for $9 mil per year…That seems a bit steep…How do you think Buddy Nix would handle a holdout situation?

Thanks

Jimmy from San Diego

CB: I appreciate the kudos. Thanks. Regarding Byrd, I think your figure is a bit off the mark. Buffalo has already franchised him and that figure is $6.9M. Though his agent is a guy that is very good at getting fair market value, $9M per is exorbitant, especially for a position like safety.

I think it’s going to be interesting to see where this leads between Byrd and the Bills, but as Buddy Nix has said the ball is in Byrd’s court seeing that he has yet to sign his franchise tender.

3 – Chris,

Thank you for you is in depth coverage leading up to the draft.  I really enjoyed listening to you on WGR550.

There may be some merit to the idea of letting Manuel sit behind Kolb for a while as he develops, but there could be additional incentive to starting Kolb in 2013.  Many people seem to be hopeful that Kolb will revitalize his career in Buffalo behind a much better O-line than what he had in Arizona.  If Kolb starts most of the 2013 season and looks impressive, he could end up having very high trade value at the end of the year.  Do you think the Bills staff would take something like that into consideration when making the decision?  Am I thinking too far ahead?

-Joe

CB: First, thanks for the kind words. All of us at Buffalobills.com bust our tail to bring you as much as we possibly can on the Bills and the draft during that three-day pick parade. I think your theory has some validity. Much of it however, will hinge on how fast Manuel comes along. If he is quick on the uptake and is playing consistent football in training camp and the preseason he could get the nod.

At the same time even the Bills brass has admitted that Manuel is not a finished product. So unless he’s outstanding in his first camp and preseason I do expect Kolb to start the season under center. Knowing New England is the first opponent it might make Kolb an even more likely starter. He beat the Patriots in New England last season while with the Cards. If Kolb plays well he’ll stay in, but I think you know as well as anybody else it all comes down to winning games.

4 – Chris,

Many thanks for keeping us in tune with what is happening with players/coaches and the draft.  I am interested in the status of the proposed improvements to the Ralph.  Will any be completed prior to the start of this season and if so how much?

Keep up the great work for the fans.

Bryon B.
Plattsburgh

CB: The initial phase of plans deal mainly with the infrastructure or bones of the stadium. That will begin this fall, but much of it won’t be noticeable to fans attending games in the stadium. The more cosmetic improvements (new scoreboards at east end, west end pavilion) won’t begin until 2014.

5 – Hey Chris,

I was just wondering what your thoughts on the Alan Branch signing.  We have seen the Bills try to do this before,  last year they added Mario Williams to Kyle Williams, Marcell Dareus and Chris Kelsay/Mark Anderson.  That one took a few weeks before it looked like they defensive line we all thought we would have.  Also before the 2008 season the Bills added Marcus Stroud to the D-Line that already had Aaron Shobel, Kyle Williams and Chris Kelsay/Ryan Denney.  That one seemed to never workout and Stroud was gone by 2010.  Why do you think the Bills organization thinks that this one could be the one that works?

Thanks for all you do,
Josh,Syracuse NY

CB: My feeling is with a defense that’s going to be attacking a lot they need a player that can command double team attention and fit well against the run. Marcell Dareus is one example of that. Torell Troup could be that, but is unproven. Alan Branch can line up in that edge defensive tackle position for Buffalo and hold the point effectively.

He might not make a ton of plays in that role, but he’ll allow players like Mario Williams and Kyle Williams and Dareus to make more of them.

Kolb: “Up-tempo offense helps young players”

The Buffalo Bills look like a team determined to pick up the pace on offense this year, based on the first three days of this week’s voluntary veteran minicamp.

And that’s a good thing, according to new Bills QB Kevin Kolb–especially for young players.

Kolb was a guest Thursday night on The John Murphy Show. And he talked about the benefits of running a fast-paced, up tempo offense.

“The best thing to me that tempo does,” Kolb says, “is that it relaxes the mind of the players and they can just do what they’ve been doing their entire life. A big problem, especially for young players at this level, is they slow down because they’re thinking too much. If you get them into a no-huddle, you get them into a quick style of offense, then they’re just reading and reacting. When you’re reading and reacting you’re playing at your highest level and that’s when you make a lot of great plays.”

Kolb told host John Murphy the Bills may not run a no-huddle offense as their base, but they’re determined to run plays at a fast clip. He says speeding up the tempo is one big way to keep opposing defenses off-balance.

“What happens in a game is, there’s two ways to handle things,” Kolb says. “You either have a lot of stuff in, and you have a lot of adjustments, so we double-count, they show their stuff, we change the protections, we change the play-whatever it is. Or, we get up, we go, we catch you off guard.”

The entire interview with Bills QB Kevin Kolb is available at Buffalobills.com\johnmurphyshow

Kolb talks about no-huddle offense

The Bills have three days of Voluntary Veteran Minicamp in the books, with plenty of more practices to come. And most observers at the three day camp came away impressed with the up-tempo fast paced Buffalo offense.

Head Coach Doug Marrone said Thursday that establishing a tempo was one of the top priorities for the team during the three days of practice.

But what about the possibility of running a no-huddle offense? Bills QB Kevin Kolb was asked on The John Murphy Show Thursday night if the no-huddle could become the base of Buffalo’s offensive attack.

“I don’t know about a base, but we’ll do some stuff,” Kolb said. “It’s still evolving. We’re still talking over a lot of things, seeing what fits our personnel. What we’re good at. We have two great backs so we don’t want to get away from those type of schemes. But we’ll figure some stuff out and see what fits us best.”

The Bills new quarterback says as fast as the offensive tempo seemed to be in the minicamp, it could get even faster in the weeks and months ahead.

“We’re not even anywhere close to where we want to be,” he told host John Murphy. “Things are still gonna change a lot from here. Everybody’s got to start getting used to it. Obviously, we have to be in great shape. And we’ll catch people off guard with it.”

The entire interview with Kevin Kolb is available at Buffalobills.com\johnmurphyshow

Marrone’s assessment of QBs

With the Bills first voluntary minicamp under head coach Doug Marrone in the books, the Bills sideline boss was asked for his impressions of the top two quarterbacks on his roster after watching them in action for three days.

“For the amount of volume that we have in on both sides of the ball, for a quarterback in Kevin who was injured and hasn’t played a lot lately to Tarvaris who wasn’t available to play last year and to come into a camp where they’re not out throwing on 7-on-7 before a camp or they’re not at a high school field, I was very impressed with how they handled themselves in the classroom with
excellent questions,” Marrone said. ”I was very impressed with how themselves on the field especially with all the stuff that was going on the field on both side. I was very happy with how they handled themselves in light of what they’ve dealt with the past
year.”

Both Kolb and Jackson appeared to execute better on the final day of the minicamp than they did earlier in the practice sessions.

“It’s good. It really is,” said Kolb. ”I think for a new system in all three phases, a lot of new players, I think practice has gone fairly smooth for our situation. Obviously a lot to build on, a lot to correct, but it’s all making sense for everybody and everybody is kind of catching on phase by phase.”

Cards color man: “Kolb is a leader”

After signing a big money contract the Arizona Cardinals two years ago, QB Kevin Kolb was only able to make 14 starts in Arizona.

But the color commentator on the Cardinals Radio Network says Kolb was a great leader in the team’s locker room.

Western New York native Ron Wolfley talked about Kolb Wednesday night, in an appearance on The John Murphy Show. And he says despite having trouble staying healthy, Kolb had already won over his Cardinals teammates.

“He’s a guy who can make all the throws,” Wolfley said. “He’s a good leader. The guys in the locker room absolutely love him.”

Wolfley says the problem with Kolb’s two year tenure in the desert was his inability to stay healthy.

“The problem with Kevin Kolb has always been durability,” Wolfley told host John Murphy. “He’s plenty tough. He took a beating here last year with the offensive line and the problems the Cardinals had there. For the first six games of the season before he finally went down, he took an absolute beating. My question is, is he durable? He only played in 15 of 32 games over a two year tenure here in Arizona.”

Wolfley said in his radio appearance that Kolb has largely been the victim of bad luck during his star-crossed NFL career.

“That’s not his fault, that’s his mom and pop, that’s DNA. There’s not much you can do about that. Your body’s either built to stay on the field, or it’s not.”

The entire interview with Ron Wolfley is available at Buffalobills.com

Kolb has performed when given the chance

The Bills newest quarterback has had a well-publicized series of injuries that kept him off the field in both of his previous NFL stops, the Eagles and the Cardinals.

But Kevin Kolb can play the position, according to an Arizona observer who watched him play.

Western New York native Ron Wolfley is the Cardinals radio color man. The former Orchard Park star played in the league as a fullback for the Cardinals. Wolfley was a guest on The John Murphy Show Wednesday night and he says Kolb has all the tools necessary for success in the league.

“He is an NFL quarterback, don’t get me wrong,” Wolfley said. “The Cardinals gave him all that money because they believe they were going to build their franchise around him. When he’s had the opportunity to play, he has performed.”

But Wolfley said Kolb has been haunted by two issues, one of them his injuries. The other, according to Wolfley, was the inability to compete at a high level when challenged for playing time. He cited Arizona’s decision to start John Skelton comming out of training camp last summer.

“Every time he’s had to compete for a job, Kevin Kolb just hasn’t played well,” Wolfley said. “When he had to compete with John Skelton for a starting job last year in training camp, all of us, even the Arizona Cardinals coaches, believed that Kevin Kolb was going to win that job in training camp, and he played horribly. It was just a frying pan in the face, how bad he played. They couldn’t give the job to Kevin Kolb coming out of training camp last year.”

“Every time he knows that the job is his, he’s performed very, very well,” Wolfley told host John Murphy. “He can make all the throws. He’s an NFL quarterback. I’m sorry it didn’t work out here for Kevin Kolb because I have a lot of respect for him.”

The entire interview with Ron Wolfley is available at Buffalobills.com

Talk of up tempo style appeals to Kolb

Along with the fact that a lot of the terminology in Nathaniel Hackett’s offense is familiar to Kevin Kolb, what’s also appealing to Kolb is talk of having an up tempo approach with the offense as well.

Appearing on the John Murphy Show, Kolb explained how he was pushing to go with an up tempo approach last season in Arizona. So to hear there will be elements of that in Buffalo has him very encouraged believing it’s an area where he excels.

“Last year before the injury we really got to where we were trying to progress as a no huddle, up tempo type offense,” said Kolb. ”I pushed very hard once I took back over and if you go back and watch those games against New England, against
Seattle and late against the Dolphins they weren’t two-minute drills, they were no huddle drills. We were calling the shots on the field.

“My wife always goes crazy saying, ‘I don’t know why they don’t do it all the time. You just look so comfortable when they let you do your no huddle thing.’ So I was looking for some of that (in free agency). The way that Peyton (Manning) and Tom (Brady) runs the show out there. I really like the way Tom Brady does his stuff. I feel like that was something I was looking for. Obviously this is my first day here and we’ll get to the extent of what we’re going to be doing here, but there’s going to be some of that in the works.”

Kolb: It was the worst pain I’ve ever felt

Bills QB Kevin Kolb was last seen by Bills fans last season in Week 5 when he was under an enormous amount of pressure from Buffalo’s defensive front in Arizona. It would also prove to be his last start for the Cardinals as the five sacks and numerous other hits he endured before finally exiting the game in the fourth quarter led to four separated ribs and a sprained shoulder.

I asked Kolb about his physical state after that game in an interview on the John Murphy Show this evening because I saw him being wheeled out of the bowels of University of Phoenix Stadium after the game to the hospital. His ribs were so bad he couldn’t lay down on the stretcher.

“Needless to say it was the most pain I ever felt 10-fold,” Kolb said. “I was talking to some of the guys here that were on the field when it happened and I think everybody was in shock. It took me three days to get my arms down after that happened. The way my ribs were laying in there it was excruciating pain no matter what they gave me and hopefully I never have to relive that again, but it’s kind of ironic that I’m sitting here with the guy who did it and playing with the team it happened against.”

Kolb said facing the Bills defense was enough to put a check mark in the box for good defense on his list when deciding if the Bills were the right fit for him.

“When we watched them on tape last year they had come off two games back to back where they had given up a lot of yards so we knew they would come in with a chip on their shoulder, and the way they were flying around when they came in was something to watch,” said Kolb. “I did take that into account.”

Marrone: Adding Kolb doesn’t impact draft

The Bills finally made the signing of free agent QB Kevin Kolb official Monday, but it won’t change Buffalo’s draft plans according to head coach Doug Marrone.

Marrone was asked if signing Kolb changes the team’s plan to draft a quarterback. This was coach Marrone’s response, which may not have directly answered the question about quarterback specifically.

“I don’t think it really is going to change the philosophy on the draft,” said Marrone. ”When the position comes whatever is best for our team to get better I think we’ll go ahead and choose that player wherever it may be. I think that rather than trying… and I don’t want to speak for Buddy (Nix) or anybody else in the organization, but rather than trying to reach or go somewhere that you don’t want to go, you bring the best players in that you can bring in and you have them compete and you’re a better football team.”

Marrone’s comment makes it clear that Nix’s philosophy of sticking to taking the best player on the board is still the predominant approach that the Bills will take later this month. The only exception that Nix has mentioned in the past in which he would lean toward position need is if a prospect at a position of need has a grade very close to or equal to that of a player that is best on their board.

Nix on Kolb signing

With Kevin Kolb officially signing Monday, Bills GM Buddy Nix commented on the addition at the quarterback position.

“We wanted to add some veteran experience to the quarterback position on our roster and we think we’ve added a good one by signing Kevin,” said Nix. ”He’s a player we had targeted since he became a free agent and he should be a strong candidate in the competition for the starting quarterback position.”

Kolb will be competing with Tarvaris Jackson and Aaron Corp, who are already on the roster and presumably a rookie that is added via the draft later this month.

Kolb was 1st in town late last month

Though it took a period of days for details to get ironed out for a signed agreement with free agent QB Kevin Kolb, here’s how the whole process began.

Kolb flew into town on Thursday march 28th and after taking a physical, arrived at One Bills Drive around 2:30 pm that day. He met members of the coaching staff and toured the facility before having dinner with Bills President and CEO Russ Brandon and others.

Kolb’s wife, Whitney also made the trip and toured the city and surrounding suburbs.

The quarterback arrived back in town today to officially sign.

Report: Bills finalizing deal with Kolb

The report Friday was that the Bills were interested in former Arizona Cardinals QB Kevin Kolb.

Now ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports the Bills and Kolb are “finalizing a deal tonight that will give Buffalo one more starting-caliber quarterback.”

There’s no confirmation on the report from the Bills yet,

Kolb was cut loose by the Cardinals in mid-March after two seasons. He signed a five year-60-million dollar deal with Arizona in 2011.

If the Bills sign Kolb, he’s expected to compete with Tarvaris Jackson and maybe a rookie draft pick for the team’s quarterback job. Head Coach Doug Marrone indicated in mid February, when Jackson was re-signed, that he would have an open competition for the Bills staring QB job.

Fan Friday 3-15

College pro days are in full swing. Pre-draft visits will soon follow, and free agent visits as well. Let’s get to your questions for this week’s edition from AskChris@bills.nfl.net and on Twitter @ChrisBrownBills.

1 - @ChrisBrownBills would Bills take a flyer on Kolb?

Cparkin2009 12:33pm via Twitter for Android

CB: I’d be surprised if Kolb is on Buffalo’s radar. The Bills have been hard at work this week with a full court press on the quarterback prospects in this year’s draft. Landry Jones, Geno Smith and Tyler Wilson all had pro days this week. Though I wouldn’t rule out the Bills kicking the tires on a veteran free agent, it seems to me that the draft is where their focus lies with respect to quarterback right now.

 2 – Hi Chris,

Thanks for keeping us updated all off-season. If the scenario of Geno Smith falling to the Browns at #6 happens, do you think this would finally be the year the Bills trade up to land the best QB prospect? Andy Reid can probably work with Alex Smith and with the Eagles re-signing Vick it looks like they may not draft a QB but the Cardinals will most likely be looking to draft a QB right before us.    

Thanks,
John

CB: I agree that the Cardinals could still draft a QB despite signing veteran free agent Drew Stanton and jettisoning Kevin Kolb. But Arizona needs help in a lot of places after cutting some high-priced vets. Cleveland has addressed some of their most pressing defensive needs early in free agency, so I don’t think ruling them out for adding a quarterback can be assumed. I realize they drafted Brandon Weeden last year, but they have a new coaching staff and new ownership.

Reporters I’ve talked to in Philadelphia also won’t rule out Chip Kelly drafting a QB, though I don’t believe it’ll happen in round one with the fourth overall pick.

As for trading up, Buddy Nix traditionally does not like to move up and down the board. Now he moved up two places last year to grab T.J. Graham in round three, but it’s a whole different ball game in the top 10 and knowing the Bills only have six picks this year, it’s hard for me to see Nix giving up picks to make a move up higher in the top 10.

3 – Chris,
With Mike Pettine being the defensive coordinator now I assume the Bills are going back to a 3-4.  I was wondering what that means for the defensive line?  Will we see Dareus or Williams move to the end again?

CB: Personally I think Marcell Dareus and Kyle Williams are both versatile enough to play end or DT in Pettine’s system. But I’ll let coach Pettine handle this one since he was recently asked about his defense in an appearance on Bills flagship station WGR Sportsradio 550 this week.

“We’re not going to be true 3-4 or 4-3 as far as how we’re doing it,” said Pettine. “We’re going to be multiple in our fronts that we run. It’s a work in progress. We’re going to highlight in our playbook what we do well. So again it’s going to be more roster based.

“We have our base concepts that we’re going to run and those have been put in from a playbook standpoint, but we’re still trying to rebuild it. As a new staff we took what we built over four years in New York and then add the experience of the other coaches on the staff. We’ve basically hit the reset button on everything. I didn’t want to come in and say, ‘This is what we’re running.’ Over time you accumulate a lot of tweaks and adjustments. We wanted to go back to the baseline and say, ‘Here is the way we’re going to teach it and then understand that these are all the variations of it.’”

4 – Chris,

What are the odds that the Bills pass on a quarterback in the early rounds this year? And pick one next year in the early rounds? Are there any prospects in next year’s draft that are better than this year? It seems to me that at least this way we can get the defense squared away and add a receiver or tight end and have everything in place for a QB next year. Thanks . I enjoy your column.

Sam from Tupper Lake , NY
Sent from my iPhone

CB: I think with Ryan Fitzpatrick no longer on the roster it’s pretty much a must that the Bills draft a quarterback somewhere in the first two rounds of the draft. Obviously what falls to them will say a lot in what is ultimately done, but with a thin free agent class at QB and the draft class at QB not tremendously deep the Bills have to land a QB early as I see it.

5 – Chris,

I’m wondering what type of offense the Bills will run given coach Marrone and Hackett’s system at Syracuse. During the season last year Nassib was quoted as saying that their success with the no huddle spread offense was due to the fact that they run to set up the pass. This is an unusual description and quite the opposite of a west coast system. Yet, newly resigned QB Jackson was quoted as saying he’s looking forward to playing in a west coast system. What type of system do you think the Bills will run?  Thanks for your insight. Go Bills!

Joe
Sent from my iPad

CB: I think it’s safe to say the offense will be heavily rooted in West Coast principles, but it will have its fair share of power running. That’s coach Marrone’s influence being a former offensive lineman. He and coach Hackett wanted to take the best elements of a number of different offenses and incorporate them into one system. Essentially their offense is a multiple system with West Coast roots.

Reports: QB Kolb to be cut, Jets interested

According to NFL reports the Cardinals are on the verge of cutting QB Kevin Kolb and a Bills division rival is going to be interested in acquiring him.

Sources: #Cardinals expect to cut QB Kevin Kolb over the next few days. Due a roster bonus of $2M on March 17. He won’t see that, I’m told

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 14, 2013

Before the cut has even happened speculation is brewing that the Jets will be very interested in Kolb’s services. That according to the New York Daily News.

If price is right, he’ll be on Jets… and likely Week 1 starter RT @rapsheet Cardinals expect to cut QB Kevin Kolb over next few days #nyj

— Manish Mehta(@MMehtaNYDN) March 14, 2013

Kolb still expected to start

Cardinals QB Kevin Kolb stepped into the lineup because starter John Skelton suffered an ankle injury a few weeks back. But Skelton was a full participant in practice Wednesday.

Nevertheless it’s widely anticipated that Kolb will remain the starter this week against the Bills. According to the Cardinals official website Skelton said his ankle is about 90 percent. But he’s yet to really push and test it. Knowing how mobile Arizona’s quarterbacks have to be with the offense surrendering 23 sacks in five games this season, if Skelton is the least bit hindered by his ankle it’s a risk the Cardinals probably don’t want to take.

Eagles open to Kolb offers

Eagles head coach Andy Reid said there has been a little interest in QB Kevin Kolb and he expects things to pick up when trades are again allowed.

Reid told the Philadelphia Daily News that they’ll “sit back and evaluate” what comes down the pike when trades can again be made. Reid reiterated that they’d prefer to have Kolb on their roster, but would be open to moving him knowing his desire to be a starter. That won’t happen in Philadelphia where Michael Vick is entrenched after getting the franchise tag.

Knowing seven of the teams that hold the top 10 picks in the draft have quarterback as a need, with still others after that (e.g. Minnesota at 12), there’s likely to be a competitive market. It’s been previously reported that the Eagles want at least a first-round pick in exchange for Kolb.

Report: 3 teams after Kolb

Though no trades can be consummated right now in light of the state of the league, ESPN’s Adam Schefter is reporting that a few teams are inquiring as to the cost to acquire Eagles QB Kevin Kolb.

AdamSchefter Teams still can discuss deals, just can’t complete them (like NBA in June). At least three teams debating deals for Eagles QB Kevin Kolb.

Schefter would not identify the teams specifically, but did drop a hint about who might be interested.

AdamSchefter Hard to pinpoint specific teams interested in Kevin Kolb, but every NFC West team except St. Louis has to consider him and deal with Eagles.

Kolb has stated more than once this offseason that he wants to start and with Michael Vick under the franchise tag, that’s not going to happen in Philadelphia.

Kolb wants to start

Over the weekend there was a report that the Eagles would entertain trade offers for backup QB Kevin Kolb. Now Kolb has reiterated his desire to start… somewhere.

Appearing on the Dan Patrick Show on Tuesday, Kolb was asked about his situation and about being a starter in the league.

“I just want to start somewhere and I feel like I’m ready,” Kolb told Patrick.

Kolb said that he doesn’t expect to compete with Vick for the job.

“Mike had a great year and did some very special things,” Kolb said.

Kolb said he had a sit-down with Andy Reid and let him know where he stands. He said he trusts Andy Reid and Kolb believes he will do right by him.

Eagles to take offers on Kolb

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Eagles will entertain trade offers for QB Kevin Kolb.

Per the report with the Eagles fully intending to place the franchise tag on Michael Vick in the coming weeks, Schefter reports that the Eagles will listen to offers for Kolb, who is still under contract for 2011 at the cap friendly price of just $1.4M.

It’s believed a bevy of teams would be interested in presenting an offer.