Now, there are a few moves that have happened in the past that have made me shake my head with the Eagles. Benching Donovan last season at the half against the Ravens, the entire T.O. fiasco, letting Brian Dawkins go. This takes the cake tonight. I'm sure you've heard about it by now, but, Michael Vick has agreed to a contract with the Philadelphia Eagles. As it's being reported, the deal is for two years, at $1.6 million this year and a club option for $5.2 million next year.
First of all, one has to wonder about the public relations backlash that this is going to have for the Eagles. While they are one of the more active teams in any community, and Vick has started to repair his image, this is still going to be something very, very interesting when he shows up for his first game in two weeks. What will the response of animal lovers be? How will the Eagles deal with it? While this may be overblown, the fact of the matter is that this situation is there and is quite real. It's going to be up to the Eagles to handle whatever happens now. It's on their hands.
The other thing I'm concerned about is just Michael Vick in general. Now, I'm not going to lie, I've never liked Vick. I didn't like him when he was the "ultimate weapon" for the Falcons, I didn't like him when he was Ron Mexico, I certainly didn't like him through the dogfighting crap, and I still don't like him now. As far as I'm concerned, he's one of the most overrated quarterbacks in NFL history. He was a great athlete, but that was about it. He couldn't throw for more than 55% accuracy, and his attitude wasn't great, either. He always seemed like someone that I didn't want to have in the locker room, and now here he is.
That being said, there's no going back now, so I might as well look at how this will impact the Eagles. The first thought in my mind was that Kevin Kolb's injury has to be worse than what the Eagles are saying right now. This wouldn't have happened without Kolb getting hurt, and if they think he's going to miss a lot of time, then this is a necessary move. If Kolb isn't hurt that badly, then AJ Feeley might be looking for work, which is a shame, because I think Feeley is one of the best emergency quarterbacks in the NFL. Of course, then there's how Donovan is going to take this. I would have to think that the Eagles would put this past him first, because I don't think that springing this news on him would go over too well. Donovan's shown in the past he can have thin skin when it comes to things like this, so we're going to have to wait and see what happens.
Honestly, I'm not too thrilled with this. Like I said, I don't like Michael Vick the person, and I think Michael Vick the football player is horribly overrated, and that's the guy that wasn't sitting in jail for almost two years. At best, he can provide a little more to an already solid looking offense. At worst, he's going to be a pain in the ass distraction, especially when PETA decides to show up and make a scene at every Eagles game until he's gone. The Eagles clearly see him as a one year trial, since that second year is for a lot more money and is a club option. I can see him in the Wildcat formation and maybe as a second tight end or running back, but not as a quarterback. At this point, his best option is to be an athlete, which is how he'll catch on.
Of course, I'm not cheering for him regardless. Like I said, I never liked Vick, even before all of the dogfighting stuff came out. I hated him with the Falcons, and I'll hate him with the Eagles. You can put that on your record.
ESPN: Michael Vick signs two year deal with Eagles
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