Phil Sheridan: Cardinals' Kevin Kolb lucky and unlucky

When it comes to Kevin Kolb, there are two possibilities.

He is the luckiest unlucky guy in the NFL, or he is the unluckiest lucky guy in all of football. Take your pick.

It is hard to remember, or even imagine, a player enjoying such spectacularly good fortune while enduring so many unfortunate bad breaks. From the time the Eagles took Kolb in the second round of the 2007 draft, his career has been defined much more by goings-on in front offices and meeting rooms than on the field. He has been the unwilling victim of physical force and the unwitting beneficiary of inexplicable market forces.

"My career's been wild," Kolb said Wednesday, amid preparations for his start Sunday against the Eagles. "I've learned to try not to predict anything."

The numbers are fascinating. Kolb is 28. He is in his sixth season in the NFL. He has started just 17 games, winning seven of them. By this point in their careers, Brett Favre had been to two Super Bowls and won one; Joe Montana had won two Super Bowl titles; and Tom Brady had three rings.

Unfair to compare Kolb to such all-time greats? Well, they were taken in the second round or later. That makes the comparisons a bit more applicable.

So does this: Kolb may not have made much of a mark on the field, but he is constantly making his mark at the bottom of remarkably lucrative contracts. That's where the lucky part of the equation comes in.

As a second-round pick, Kolb received a four-year deal worth $4.285 million. In 2010, when the Eagles decided to part ways with Donovan McNabb, they faced an unusual situation. With no salary cap and uncertainty about a lockout in 2011, it was difficult and risky to come up with a fair deal for Kolb.

The solution: The Eagles extended Kolb's contract by a year, basically handing him $10.7 million in a bonus. His hold on the starting job lasted less than one game. Green Bay's Clay Matthews drove Kolb headfirst into the turf in the season opener and Michael Vick stepped in.

Lucky: $10.7 million. Unlucky: Vick, signed out of the clear blue sky in 2009, strung together the best games of his career to render Kolb expendable.

The lockout was in effect in 2011, complicating the Eagles' efforts to trade Kolb. The Arizona Cardinals were looking to move on from Kurt Warner, and there just happened to be little help available in the draft that year. Jake Locker? Blaine Gabbert? The Cards used the fifth pick of that draft on cornerback Patrick Peterson and set their eyes on Kolb at QB.

The trade was made when the lockout ended in July. The Cards showed their commitment by signing Kolb to a five-year, $65 million deal with $21 million guaranteed. His hold on the starting job lasted seven games - six of them losses. John Skelton, a fifth-round pick from 2010, went 5-2 as a starter after taking over from Kolb.

Lucky: $21 million more in the bank. Unlucky: The lockout that created the environment for the trade also hindered Kolb's ability to grasp a new offense. Surely, 2012 would be better, right?

Two-and-a-half years after having Vick dropped into his life, Kolb had to watch his new team publicly pursue Peyton Manning in the offseason. If they'd signed Manning, the Cardinals likely would have released Kolb, who was due a $7 million roster bonus in March.

Manning went to Denver. Another $7 million went into Kolb's bank account.

Unlucky. Lucky.

Kolb lost a training camp competition with Skelton over the summer. Worse, he was thrust into a controversy when Oakland defensive end Tommy Kelly said Kolb was "skittish" and "scared" when under pressure. Those are harsh words for a quarterback, who has to lead his teammates, to live down.

But they sum up Kolb's conundrum. He has played superbly at times - he has been NFC offensive player of the week after two of his 17 starts - to underscore what coaches see in him. But he has never stayed healthy and on the field long enough to get completely comfortable in the starting role. Maybe his time is finally here.

This time, Kolb was the guy coming off the bench when Skelton went down with an ankle injury in Week 1. Kolb led the Cardinals to a win over Seattle that day, then an improbable, 20-18 win in New England last Sunday. So he is, once again, the No. 1 quarterback.

Can he hold the job? Can he avoid injury?

It is hard to believe he will get many more chances, or that there will be another huge contract based entirely on potential. Kolb is going to have to make his mark on the field, finally. The ball is in his hands, again.