Read Bleacher Fan and Loyal Homer’s arguments about which team should have signed Michael Vick.
This is really a debate about Joel Segal, quarterback/convict Michael Vick’s agent. In the NFL, no less than ten teams (arguably more) are unsettled at the quarterback position at this stage of the pre-season. Somehow Vick signed with the Philadelphia Eagles – one of the few franchise’s in the NFL that does not have an unsettled quarterback situation. In fact, during the most recent off-season the Eagles actually took measures to improve their Pro Bowl quarterback’s contract, reassuring Donavan McNabb that he was the team leader.
First, here are a couple of reasons why the Philly signing caught the entire sports world off-guard (though, I must say, it was delightful to be caught off-guard in the customarily predictable world of sports journalism). While Philly does not have a quarterback controversy at all, they may have created one. After signing Vick, it is impossible for McNabb not to wonder, “If Vick does well… could I lose my job?” He would be foolish to ignore that inner voice – and he is not foolish (I think). Thus far he is repeating the company line, with the team positioning the signing as strongly urged by McNabb. Then there is the case of team president Jeffrey Lurie. It is impossible to separate the public relations issues from the football issues in this case, and Lurie seems equally concerned with both. In fact, he said in August 2007 that he’d “never” allow someone who participated in dog fighting to play for his team. Lurie has been forced to go against his morals and better judgment to approve this signing.
Because of these reasons, the Philly signing does not make sense… it does not feel comfortable. And the pundits who have shown up on television applauding the structure of the Eagles organization as the real reason Vick signed with Philly fail to see the bigger picture. Most organizations (sorry, Bengals) have a structured environment. It is not impossible to find one that had both need at the quarterback position AND the environment the structure-craving Vick needs. Those two elements are married in the form of the Minnesota Vikings.
Who is the Vikings starting quarterback? Sage Rosenfels, a.k.a. Gus Frerotte light. Words like, “journeyman” and “inconsistent” come to mind – not the words you would like to see used to describe a team leader. In his nine years in the league he has thrown 30 touchdown passes. That is a season for most good starting quarterbacks. In seasons where he has started five or more games, only once has he thrown more touchdowns than interceptions (he still threw 12 interceptions to 15 touchdowns).
The other quarterback with a shot to start is fourth year player Tarvaris Jackson. Jackson, despite having thrown only 20 career touchdown passes, did play well last season with nine touchdowns against just two interceptions. But, even with his knowledge and experience in the offense, and his incumbent position in Minneapolis, the journeyman free agent Rosenfels was named the starter.
Now, before some readers start barking out crazy things like, “Vick could tutor Jackson” – let’s be realistic. Minnesota should not sign Vick to tutor Jackson – Minnesota needs a better quarterback. I am not going to insult anyone’s intelligence by saying that Michael Vick could tutor Tarvaris Jackson and help him get better. Vick is not a tutor, he’s a talent. Thus, Vick’s tenure in the NFL will end abruptly, when the spark of his talent is diminished. No slow, Chris Chandler-like swan song of mentoring QBs from city to city.
Vick is a short-term, high risk, high reward signing right now. No organization stands more to gain from it than the QB-starved/jilted Minnesota Vikings. Long gone are the high flying days of Randall Cunningham and Daunte Culpepper. The Vikings need a talented, athletic quarterback to take them to the next level – the conference championship level (at least). Vick could be that player, without all of the discomfort and question marks that come with Philly.
