UPDATED: Late-Drafting Team Offers First-Rounder for Kevin Kolb

Peter King wrote the following in his Monday Morning Quarterback column this morning:

Andy Reid apparently is serious about trading Kevin Kolb. At the NFL meetings Sunday, a good source told me Reid already has one team willing to offer a first-round pick for Kolb, and now he's looking for a team with a higher choice in the round to make him a better deal. My take: I'd trade a very high draft pick to acquire Kolb instead of drafting one of the quarterbacks available this year.

Dan Kadar of Mocking the Draft reads the part about a "higher choice in the round" and surmises that the team in question is probably the Seahawks. I'm with Kadar. The next highest QB-needy team drafting before Seattle is Jacksonville, and I doubt Reid could reasonably expect higher than a #16 pick for Kolb, despite what King says. It's well known by now that many teams are valuing this draft's crop of QB's much higher than the media are, meaning high-drafting teams are less likely to look to free agency. It's also well known that Seattle tried to trade for Kolb last year - when they were actually capable of meeting Philadelphia's demand of two first-rounders, high ones to boot - and were turned down at the time.

Eagles president Joe Banner said that the teams that pursued Kolb last year "remain interested" and that "they are the teams people are guessing", all but confirming that Seattle is in the hunt and most likely offered the first-rounder. The situation becomes more complex with a report that the Eagles might accept a 2012 pick for Kolb.

If this rumor has anything to it (King did not specifically identify Seattle, and his track record with high-profile rumors is not exactly unblemished), your reaction will hinge on your opinion of Kolb. He's got only seven games with wildly varying results under his belt, and a small sample size can lead to anything from a gem awaiting sunlight or the next Scott Mitchell. Kip Earlywine sees a great value pick for a #25 and spots a bit of Matt Schaub in him. If Kolb has even close to that kind of upside, he's worth the #25 in my estimation.

This continues to give us insight into Pete Carroll and John Schneider's quest for a starting QB. They definitely envision Kolb as such if they're putting a first-rounder on the table, and he does possess the mobility Carroll and Schneider seek, which could allow Seattle to carry over more of its 2010 playbook and maintain continuity. Everyone sees Kolb's less-than-amazing arm strength and thinks "short passes - must be a West Coast guy", which is a massive oversimplification. But while I doubt that OC Darrell Bevell will nix the deep passing game as much as is being theorized, Kolb might be a good fit for Seattle's current bevy of receiving weapons, who are mostly short- to intermediate-range guys.

It bears mentioning that this corps still doesn't match the sheer talent of DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, and Lesean McCoy, and that Kolb will be working with a generally worse supporting cast. Like Rob Staton, I'm pretty tired of quarterbacks for whom excuses have to be constantly made and entire offenses reshuffled, and would rather find a quarterback who will make others around him better instead of needing the converse. But Seattle's options are limited, Ryan Mallett's stock is rising higher every hour, and we have to do what we can. Kolb is a legitimate option, if an iffy one.

And, of course, like every article on such possibilities in this damn offseason, I must include a token reminder that nothing will happen until a new CBA is agreed upon or a court injunction is issued to lift the lockout. The latter won't happen until, at the earliest, the initial court hearing on April 6, and the former is unlikely to happen as long as NFL spokesman Jeff Pash is allowed anywhere near the negotiating table. I hate this.