Just before I left this afternoon, Lee Versage and I had a quick debate on whether Vick would be picked up by anyone, what his role would be and what teams would be interested....it's the million dollar question around the NFL after he finished his 23 month sentence today on dogfighting charges....so let's break this down....
First off, he will get his chance to play somewhere.....as we've seen since the salary cap has been introduced to different sports, owners and GM's are always looking for the guy that offers the most amount of potential for the smallest price....he would be someone that would be signed for the league minimum in the hopes that he could get back to close to the stats that he had in the 2006 season before he went to jail....
Let's not forget that in his last season, he threw 20 TD passes (the most in his career) and ran for over 1000 yards, which is just unheard of for a quarterback....
Alright, what is his role going to be then? Is he going to change positions or is he going to continue going on as a quarterback? I can't see him being asked the change positions, but let's look at the options for that argument.....If he were to change, he would either become a running back or a wide receiver....to me, the running back position is way more plausible...
With the running back position, he would be undersized and would have no experience with running the ball inside the trenches, so he could never be a 25-30 carry kind of back....but it's much more realistic to ask him to be a third-down back....he wouldn't work in goal-line or short-yardage situations, but line him up in a shotgun formation and all of a sudden, the offense has a couple more options for trick plays....
The WR position makes sense if you only look at the optics of it....a tall and speedy guy with tons of athletic ability, but the question that these people fail to look at.....CAN HE EVEN CATCH A FOOTBALL? Yes Yes, I know the Matt Jones situation in Jacksonville, a converted quarterback from Arkansas, but the WR position takes so much time to learn and master....does Vick really have the time at this point of his career to make that tough transistion? I can't see it....
So, he would come back as a quarterback, but let's not get ahead of ourselves, he's not going to compete for a starter job any time soon.....he would be a backup or even third string somewhere, but again, the potential that he brings to the table would allow for owners to take a chance....but who would those teams be? I give you my top 5 predictions on where he'll go....
5) New England Patriots
Look, we all that Tom Brady is the man here, but what we found out last year is that even the posterboy for the NFL is not immune to injury....luckily for the franchise, Matt Cassel was able to emerge as the starter and put up numbers....problem is that he's moved on to Kansas City for big money....there's no Matt Cassel among the backups this year....
Brady's backups include Kevin O'Connell and Matt Gutierrez.....if anyone can tell me where they went to school without looking it up, a tip of the cap to you 'cause I had no idea (San Diego State and Idaho State respectively, just so you don't have to look it up)
The question will be: Why would New England want the headache? The answer is simply because of need.....if Vick shows any talent off, he could easily vault himself into the number two spot....and let's not forget, Bill Belichick had to deal with a headache named Randy Moss a couple of years ago and look how it's turned out for them.....
4) Jacksonville Jaguars
David Garrard is coming off his best season ever and was able to play all 16 games last year for the Jags, but the problem is they are very thin at the position after Garrard....the backups include journeyman Todd Bouman and some guy named Paul Smith....They are in a ton of trouble if Garrard were to go down with any long-term injury.....
Another aspect is that the fan-starving Jags would all of a sudden have a bargaining chip for people to come out to their games if there was a chance of seeing Vick play for the first time in almost three seasons.....The Jags are a struggling franchise and the bottom line would win out over the PR backlash that they would be sure to endure by signing him.....
3) Miami Dolphins
The team that brought back the Wildcat formation are very thin at the quarterback position....Chad Pennington is the starting quarterback with Pat White, a great collegiate quarterback from West Virginia, and Chad Henne, out of Michigan....
Pennington has great knowledge of the game and has great instincts, but has little mobility and his arm strength is still a problem....he's also in the later stages of his career at 33 years old...
Pat White was drafted in the second round of this year's draft and the belief is that he would take over the wildcat duties from Ronnie Brown....but if Vick could prove to be more of a threat than White, Vick could easily vault himself into the backup role here because White has always been slagged for his lack of ability for passing the football.....
2) San Francisco 49ers
The three quarterbacks here include Shaun Hill, Alex Smith and Damon Huard....Hill is the starter, but has had his troubles with consistency....Smith was the number one overall pick a few years ago, but has shown to be more of a bust than anything else....Damon Huard is a journeyman who has never really shown anything in the league and is now 36 years old....
Based on depth chart alone, this is the best chance for Vick to land somewhere....plus I like the idea of a hard-nosed coach like Mike Singletary to come in and be the disciplinarian that Vick would need to help mold him back into the quarterback he once was.....
It's a team that's destined for a 7-8 win season again this year, so there's no risk of interrupting a championship season here by bringing in Vick.....they might as well take the gamble and see what he's got.....worst-case scenario, they now have four QB's on the depth chart that don't deserve to be starters in the NFL...
1) Oakland Raiders
First and foremost, Al Davis is always looking to remake guys with bad reputations....why else would he sign guys like Javon Walker, draft someone like Darren McFadden and keep someone like Sebastian Janikowski?
When you look at the quarterback situation, Jamarcus Russell is pegged as the starter, but anyone who has seen him can tell you that he will struggle yet again this season and we'll eventually see backup Jeff Garcia get some time....
But the situation doesn't matter.....I get the sense that Davis sees the dollars that this could bring to a franchise that is primed for yet another 4 win season and he would be willing to take the backlash as he's done several times in the past....For the record, I think Garcia will take the starting job away from Russell by the halfway point of the season, but it could be an interesting twist if Vick makes his way to the Bay Area.....
For those who have forgot what he could bring to the football field, here's a little sample of his highlights throughout his career....