Lombardi: Vick to wind up east of the Mississippi
Mike Lombardi of the National Football Post is reporting that free agent quarterback Michael Vick will likely sign with a team east of the Mississippi.
Back to Vick. By the way, did you see him working out with those kids on the high school field? He looked good, throwing the ball around softly. In fact, I mentioned on the air that we should send him some new NFL footballs. Quarterbacks cannot be properly evaluated unless they have the right footballs. So where does this leave Vick? I put my thinking cap on (yes, Raiders fans, I have one) and, based on the east of the Mississippi clue, my best guess is Carolina. I still feel Jacksonville is in play, especially because they went after Andrew Walter and failed to land him, despite the fact their offensive coordinator, Dirk Koetter, coached Walter in college. Carolina badly needs a backup quarterback and has seen firsthand how Vick can create problems with his running skills. It makes sense, but it’s still a guess. I’ll keep working on the clues.
One thought being floated around the web is that Vick will wind up in a southern state because dog fighting is more widely accepted in the south. But that kind of seems like a ridiculous, fabricated notion and I think any team that signs Vick will do so knowing that PETA will be on their front lawn as soon as he reports to their facilities.
The Panthers are an interesting team that never crossed my mind in terms of who Vick could potentially sign with. Jake Delhomme just signed a new contract, but there’s nothing guaranteed about his play (see last year’s divisional round playoff loss to the Cardinals) and Vick could give Carolina better depth at the quarterback position.
But again, it all comes down to which team is willing to take the risk of signing him. Financially he’s probably worth it, seeing as how he’s probably going to have to take the first offer presented to him. But any team that signs him risks alienating their fan base and turning their facilities into a daily media circus.
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PETA may be there, but the real downside with signing Vick is a loss in support from the fan base. So if dogfighting is more accepted in the South — I’m not sure that it is, but would guess so — then a southern team makes sense.
It’s still a ridiculous notion though, whether it makes sense or not. It just sounds like someone is throwing stuff against the wall to see if it’ll stick.
Besides, it’s not like a GM is thinking to himself, “Well, our fan base is from the south where dog fighting is more common, so I think it’s safe to sign Vick.”
Cincinnati anyone?
I mean Palmer is the man, but awful #2 QB in line next. And the Bengals are already supporting the greater midwest prison system?
Seriously though the Bengals and Detroit, maybe Dallas as a back up for Romo. Vick wont beat anyone out to start anywhere but detroit.
And thats till Staford is ready./
Hey John,
I know that the Bengals have already stated that they’re not interested in Vick, but so has Seattle, San Fran and a slew of other teams that keep popping up in rumors.
I agree with you though – he’s going to have to accept a backup role at the start. And that’s if he gets signed.
Exactly t-bone
Cincy said they were done with stuff
then let Henry stay, took Tank Johnson ect…
So we’ll see. He may end up like his brother…
i thnk it will be great if carolina had michael vick…all u hear in charlotte is dat we want vick,so why owner richardson want sign him? plus we got the toughest games 2 play this season
vick to carolina ??? why not it cant get any worser for us carolina fans… atleast it shows the managers are wiling to do what it may take too win buy replacing jakes awful mistakes, its not 1 bad game its the power running game and smiths acrobatic catches that bails jake all year long. vick being unwanted in the nfl has nothing to do with his ball talents, off field mistakes. done his times. angelo and stew n strong Oline, smitty on WR and vick QB that will drive D’s headache all game mismatching all over. so get over it sign vick and i smell celebration in feb in the queen city !!!! go PANTHERS
The Steel City of Champs would dominate with Vick on 3rd and long…
I live in Raleigh which is 130 miles east of Charlotte and here’s why I don’t think the Carolina Panthers will sign Michael Vick.
The Panthers are in a small market so just a little negativity has a big impact in terms of ticket sales and merchandising. After the Rae Carruth murder conviction and several other incidents involving players (drugs, domestic violence, etc.) there was local outcry that if the team was going to give this rapidly growing city a black eye, maybe they need to move elsewhere. The franchise has only been in Charlotte since 1995 and there aren’t generations of fan support to help them survive a public image problem. After a lot of work within the community, the Panthers are an integral part of the city and are very attractive to the growing population and I don’t know that they want to jeopardize that relationship. I’m not saying that what Vick did is anywhere near as serious as what Carruth did, but the Panthers are extremely image conscious and will be for a long time. He would be a great fit considering the erratic play of Delhomme, but I don’t know that the fan base would see it the same way.
The notion that dog fighting is more widely accepted in the south is just asinine. Even if that argument was valid, the two largest cities that support the Panthers, Charlotte and Raleigh, are made up of nearly 50% transplanted residents, primarily from the northeast. And those who would “accept” dog fighting probably make up a fraction of a percent of the fan base. I totally agree with Anthony, guys are just throwing crap out there, hoping they’re right for once. And I agree that no GM in his right mind would take into consideration whether a felony criminal conviction would be more accepted in a certain part of the country.
“Do what it takes to win”…for some fans, that’s all it’s about and that’s pretty sad.
I am a Raleigh resident and I cannot speak for everyone but I personally would love to see Micheal Vick in a Panthers uniform. I became a true panthers fan in thier Super bowl campain in the 03-04 season. I have followed the panthers and our error prone QB ever since. It is soooo painful to watch a team so blessed with talent lose because our QB is so unpredictable. Not to say Vick is a savior but having watched him play a number of time I am sure that his talents can help. As far as PETA is concerned tell them I’m in my house killing flies ALL DAY!
T-Bone could not be more off-base in regards to the team not having a generational fanbase and that Charlotte doesn’t want the Panthers around. I live in Raleigh too, but that’s clearly irrelevant. MY nephews are fans, I am a fan and my Dad is a fan…everyone I know is a fan! NC and Charlotte adore the Panthers. I know for one, this fan would welcome Vick with open arms. T-bone, you are right about Jake. Agreed there.
However, the NFL is full of thugs. Period. What’s one more? He happen to hit a hot-button topic in America, where we don’t eat dogs, but sometimes treat them better than children. GO PANTHERS!