The Michael Vick haters will have to hold off on the celebration. He’s not going anywhere.
Those who disdain No. 7 were sure that while every dog has its day, Vick had come to the end of the line in Philly.
Not just yet.
That became apparent yesterday when the Eagles and Vick reached agreement on what amounts to a one-year deal that could pay Vick as much as $7 million, $3.5 million of which is guaranteed. The team can void the final two years after March 15. Beware the Ides of March, Michael.
In the meantime, that grating sound you hear is the Michael Vick haters gnashing their teeth.
Vick has been a lightning rod ever since returning to the NFL via the Eagles several years ago after doing two years in a federal prison on a dogfighting rap. The details involved in that “sport” were horrific. And they involved dogs. For some, that crossed a line from which there is no return.
I understand that. Some people I know - lifetime Iggles fans - have sworn off the team so long as Vick is wearing midnight green. They looked forward to getting their team back by jettisoning the reviled QB.
Chip Kelly had another idea. The truth is he didn’t have much choice. In case you haven’t noticed, the Eagles don’t have a lot of options when it comes to their signal-caller. Nick Foles didn’t really show anything in his time starting in place of the once again concussed Vick this year that screamed “franchise quarterback.” The draft, where the Eagles hold the No. 4 pick, does not hold anything akin to an RGIII or Andrew Luck, or even Russell Wilson or Colin Kaepernick for that matter.
Kelly yesterday formally announced his coaching staff, but spent most of his time talking about Vick and the quarterback position that is so critical to his uptempo offense.
I’m not sure Vick is the guy for this offense. But it has nothing to do with those long-ago actions tied to dogfighting. I know that is not a popular opinion. Neither, undoubtedly, is this. Vick has been a model citizen since arriving in Philadelphia fresh out of a federal pen. He has done and said just about everything right.
Unfortunately, after an incredible initial burst of superior play, he has come back to Earth with a thud, showing an alarming tendency to turn the ball over and miss games due to injury.
Kelly said yesterday that Vick and Foles will have an open competition for the job, which will be decided “on the practice field.”
I think Vick wins that battle.
Whether he can run Kelly’s offense is another matter altogether. Vick has never shown the kind of ability to read defenses and make the right decisions that Kelly demands of his QB . But he certainly does have the ability to move, clearly a much more alluring choice than the pedestrian Foles, who this year rumbled for a 10-yard TD that seemed to take minutes.
But Vick’s real problem is that he’s not 25 anymore. He will be 33 this year. The most glaring difference I noticed in Vick this year was his inability to escape rushers who he used to leave grasping at air. That means he gets hit. And that will mean he gets injured. That is his track record. It says here Foles better keep his helmet nearby; he almost assuredly will need to step in for an injured No. 7.
But all of this will be decided on the field, where it should be. Not in old allegations from Vick’s past. He paid his debt on those. There are those who will never forgive him for what he did. That is their right.
I’d like nothing more than to see Vick thrive under Kelly’s tutelage and lead a rejuvenated Eagles team back to the playoffs. I dont’ think it’s going to happen. Michael Vick has gone from the most dangerous weapon in the NFL to a stopgap for a franchise that is remaking itself.
Michael Vick is not the Eagles quarterback of the future.
He is Chip Kelly’s quarterback of the present. Right now. But maybe not next month.
For many, the issue with Vick is not the future or the present. It is the past, specifically his past. And this team will have no future - at least with them - until Vick is gone.
That day may come. But yesterday Chip Kelly put it on hold. It looks more and more like he will go to war with Michael Vick.
Some fans who harbor ill will toward No. 7 know exactly how he feels.
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