"News flash: Monday, May 9, 2011. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals did not grant NFL owners a permanent stay of Judge Susan Richard Nelson's lockout injunction. NFL teams, therefore, must open their doors to players, and the league must resume business and start the new year immediately.

While that scenario is an unlikely one, there is still the chance that the lockout will be lifted Monday - or some time before the owners' appeal is heard on June 3 - and the Eagles will be permitted to make the moves that many suspect they will make before the coming season.

Trade Kevin Kolb.

Add a cornerback.

Add a defensive end.

Extend Michael Vick's contract.

The latter three likely won't happen until Kolb is dealt. And make no mistake about it, the Eagles' backup quarterback is all but gone, as one team source said.

The questions then are, to paraphrase Ricky Watters, "To whom?" and "For what?"

Several teams remain as possible suitors following the draft, with one team the clear leader, per a report from last week. The compensation for Kolb is murkier, although the Eagles are likely to want a corner or end in return along with a draft pick.

Peter King of Sports Illustrated reported on Monday that the Eagles already had an offer for a 2012 first-rounder. When asked about the report on 97.5 FM on Wednesday, Eagles coach Andy Reid responded with a non-denial denial.

"That's not where we're at right now," Reid said, "and I wouldn't talk about it anyway if it was."

Later in the week, ESPN's Adam Schefter issued a non-report report, first on TV, then in a chat, that the Arizona Cardinals were the favorites to land Kolb. Schefter went on to write in the chat that the "Cardinals and Eagles were allowed to discuss a deal at various points this off-season" [which they were] "including the first day of the draft" [which they weren't].

It is "not true that anyone was permitted to discuss trades of NFL player contracts" during the first day of the draft, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello wrote in an e-mail Friday. The lockout was temporarily lifted two weeks ago after Nelson's ruling, but the league went only so far as to allow players to enter team facilities for a 12-hour span.

Eagles sources denied Schefter's report, although it would be difficult for the league to prove the teams were in violation of league rules. A trade just minutes after a lifted lockout could suggest as much.

Nevertheless, there is reason to link the Eagles to Arizona. The Cardinals did not get a quarterback in the draft, and general manager Rod Graves has said he would be aggressive in acquiring one.

Instead of taking a quarterback with the fifth overall pick in the draft, Arizona took Patrick Peterson, which led some overzealous fans to deduce that the Eagles had a wink-and-nod deal for the LSU cornerback.

They did not, although Peterson could factor into a trade. With the rookie already penciled in as