Tag: Michael Vick rumors (Page 7 of 9)

      Falcons release Michael Vick – what next?

      June 12, 2009 /

      The Falcons have officially released quarterback Michael Vick, ending an eight year marriage that started with Vick being selected with the number one overall pick in the 2001 NFL Draft and ending with him spending the past two years in a federal penitentiary for dog-fighting.

      The release of Vick was just a formality for the Falcons, who had zero plans of honoring the rest of his contract. The remainder of Vick’s signing bonus ($8 million) will count against the team’s cap this season but after that, all financial ties will be severed.

      Atlanta tried trading Vick this past offseason and unsurprisingly found no takers. The Rams, Redskins, 49ers, Jets and Raiders were all mentioned as possible trade suitors at one point or another over the past couple months, but most teams declined having any interest in the end.

      Vick is now free to sign with any team he wants, but he’s waiting to see if NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will reinstate him first and if he does, whether or not another suspension is forthcoming. Once Vick was indicted on federal charges, Goodell suspended him indefinitely, but it remains to be seen if the troubled quarterback will receive any more suspension time.

      Assuming he does get reinstated, I don’t think a GM with half a brain would take the risk of signing Vick. Not only will he probably be suspended again, but nobody knows what kind of shape he’s in and whether or not he’s even mentally ready to play football. Not to mention whichever team does sign him, they better be ready for the national media storm that will certainly blow in upon his arrival.

      Oakland is about the only place I could see Vick winding up in. Al Davis doesn’t care what anyone thinks and if a player has talent (which Vick certainly does…or did), then Davis will find a spot for him. The only problem is that JaMarcus Russell is the team’s quarterback, so would Vick be willing to move to another position or take a backup role? Considering what he’s done, he better be willing to take whatever a team gives him, but who knows.

      Let the Vick speculation begin.

      NFL

      Skins’ Snyder to go after Vick? Don’t count on it.

      June 10, 2009 /

      According to a report by the Washington Post, the Redskins made a “quick and unanimous” decision to pass on signing suspended quarterback Michael Vick if he were released by the Falcons (which is inevitable).

      Some figured that Redskins owner Daniel Snyder would consider making a move for Vick because well, Snyder usually makes decisions without completely thinking them through and signing the troubled QB would certainly play into his consistently clueless thought process. But Vick would have been a horrible fit for Washington for a couple of reasons.

      Outside of the obvious reasons not to pursue Vick (i.e. he could be suspended by the league, he’s nowhere near in NFL game shape, and the little fact that he used to breed dogs in order to fight them in his spare time), he simply isn’t a good fit for the West Coast Offense.

      When he became head coach of the Falcons in 2004, Jim Mora naively hired buddy Greg Knapp as offensive coordinator because he thought Knapp could teach Vick the WCO. The problem was, Vick’s main struggles surrounded around his inability to set his feet properly, making quick reads and getting the ball out of his hand in a timely manner – skill sets that are imperative for a quarterback to have in order to be successful in the WCO.

      Vick not being an ideal fit to run the WCO would have been reason enough for the Redskins not to pursue him – pissing off Jason Campbell would have been another. Snyder has done a horrible job instilling confidence in Campbell this past offseason and if Washington actively pursued Vick, it might have sent Campbell off the deep end. I realize Campbell doesn’t have massive upside, but he does have potential and with a little support, he might even become a reliable QB for the Skins in the near future.

      Either way, don’t look for the Skins to pursue Vick – Snyder be damned. It just doesn’t seem like an ideal fit when you look at the situation realistically.

      NFL

      Rams interested in Vick?

      June 1, 2009 /

      According to a report by Michael Lombardi of the National Football Post, the Rams are interested in suspended quarterback Michael Vick, who was recently released from federal prison.

      Michael Vick update: According to people I’ve talked to who are close to him, Vick is in great spirits and looking forward to the future. I’m told he’s in great “non-professional football shape” and is determined to prove he can regain his superstar status in the NFL. He’s also very determined to do all the little things he didn’t do previously. He intends to spend more time studying the game, more time preparing to play, more time working on his game. Two years alone with nothing but your thoughts can be a powerful motivational tool.

      Several people in the NFL told me not to rule out St. Louis as a possible destination for Vick. The Rams might have some ownership issues to deal with before actually signing him, but they have genuine interest. They’ve been doing their due diligence on Vick, and if the Commissioner does reinstate him, look for them to actively pursue him. It makes sense — a new coach with an older quarterback who hasn’t played well. Playing in a dome on carpet would highlight Vick’s speed and athleticism.

      As with all rumors, this should be taken with a grain of salt, but as Lombardi notes in his article – don’t rule the Rams out. Then again, the Rams organization is in complete flux because of a possible sale, so they have bigger things to concentrate on right now.

      People are generally going to have two thoughts on whether or not a team should pursue Vick. One group will think it’s a disaster waiting to happen, while the other will look at a team signing him as a low risk, high reward type of situation. I guess it all depends on whether or not he’ll be suspended, when the Falcons will officially release him (don’t forget he’s still under contract in Atlanta), and what kind of shape he’s in.

      But personally, no matter how high the reward might be, I wouldn’t invite that circus to town if I owned a team. I wouldn’t want to deal with PETA or the media storm that would come with his signing, nor would I want my team to endure that.

      NFL, Rumors & Gossip

      Five potential suitors for Vick

      May 20, 2009 /

      Even though his agent Joel Segal recently stated that his client is putting football “on the back burner”, Peter King of SI.com lists five potential suitors for Michael Vick once the NFL decides to reinstate him.

      1. New Orleans Saints
      I think coach Sean Payton could sell it pretty easily to selfless and egoless quarterback Drew Brees by telling him Vick’s not coming in to take your job, only coming in to play five to 10 snaps a game in some Wildcat/running back/receiver capacity. Saints owner Tom Benson wants to win badly.

      2. Oakland Raiders
      Because Al Davis is Al Davis, and he doesn’t care what we think, or what PETA thinks, and because he loves athletes more than any other owner in football.

      You can read the rest of King’s list, here.

      Personally, I think the only person with the kahones to take Vick on would be Al Davis in Oakland. I don’t disagree with any of King’s reasoning for the other teams, but in the end, most owners will to be scared off by the potential consequences that come with signing Vick.

      But as King alluded to, Davis doesn’t give a wet fart about anything but winning and if he feels Vick will help him win, he’ll bring him on board. I just hope Davis is dumb enough to trade for Vick and the Falcons get something in return for all of their troubles.

      NFL

      Dungy: ‘Vick wants second chance’

      May 14, 2009 /

      After recently meeting with the troubled suspended player in prison, former head coach Tony Dungy said that Michael Vick is seeking a second chance.

      He enjoys helping troubled young men, and Vick, in Dungy’s eyes, is simply one of them. Vick is serving a 23-month sentence for bankrolling a dogfighting conspiracy. Dungy wouldn’t offer details about his meeting with Vick, but compared the quarterback’s situation to many of the ex-offenders at the resource fair Wednesday.

      “I think Michael is just like so many other guys that I have seen, so many other people who are nameless, faceless in that environment,” Dungy said. “It’s a young man that made a mistake and is looking for a chance to recover and move forward. That’s where he is and that’s where so many of the men who are here today are.”

      Dungy is doing a lot of good in this world and I for one hope that he can help Vick get his life back on track. But in the end, everything is in Vick’s hands. He must surround himself with positive influences that will help him stay on the straight and narrow and keep him out of trouble. It appears that the wrong people heavily influenced Vick when he set up the dog-fighting ring, so it would be beneficial for him to only surround himself with folks that make sound decisions.

      NFL

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