Why would Michael Vick consider playing football in a place like Jacksonville, Florida? The short answer is money. It is hard to say how much money the former Va Tech player actually has left in the bank. He has made a lot of money but has obviously spent a lot of it as well. Things like mansions, moochers, and lawyers do come at a premium. I would not be shocked to see Mike Vick pretty broke when he finally does hang up the cleats. So if Jacksonville is a landing spot that promises the best money for the quarterback who would fault him for going there. Jacksonville may not be the best place to play pro football but you got to do what you got to do as they say.
Vick has not been let go by Philly yet but all indications point toward an exit sooner rather than later. Vick has some ball left in him. He is not washed up but he is so inconsistent that I don’t see the Eagles going back to him over Foles. That is unless injury comes into play for the starter. The numbers just are not in line to keep Vick while Foles is the starter and has to get paid like the starting guy sooner rather than later.
I don’t know how Jacksonville’s fan base would greet Vick. He is still an exciting player but that nasty dog fighting deal will never be completely gone from people’s minds. There probably won’t be a big protest by dog lovers in whatever city Mike Vick ends up. But there will be some uproar since it is a new city with new people who would like to show their disapproval when they get that chance. But as always off the field stuff is usually overlooked by most fans if the player in question plays well enough.
Mike Vick would do well to get a strict financial adviser as this next contract could be his last one. He will need a lot of money to last the rest of his days on this planet and I do not see any job that Vick could get that would pay anything close to what he has made at being an NFL QB. It does not seem like any network would hire him as he is not a fast talking media type like Ray Lewis. And that is another case that the dog fighting thing would have an impact on his ability to get hired for a TV gig.
Jacksonville appears to be forever a doormat but the NFL has a way to even things out over time. They love to boast about the parity in their league. Every year each team has a chance to go from worst to first in theory. But I would not put any money on the Jaguars even at 50-1 to win the Super Bowl next year. OK maybe I would put a few dollars on it for the heck of it. With a few lucky draft choices working out next year and possibly some veterans like a Mike Vick, who knows what is possible. People will laugh at that but things can turn around quickly in the NFL. Maybe not as fast as one season but I could see the Jags making progress in a couple of years with some luck on their side.
As for Philadelphia and Michael Vick, I wish it had worked out better for both. By no stretch was it a disaster or anything close. Philly took a chance on a player coming out of prison so Vick has to be forever grateful to them for sticking their neck out on that contract. And to his credit the quarterback did all that was asked of him along the way. He stayed the course off the field and played hard when he was on the field. He has fulfilled his contract with the Eagles so far but it will end like it does for every player. Their value just goes down in relation to the terms in their contract. The NFL is a business not a charity and they need the numbers to work in their favor like any other business.
One player usually benefits when another is not playing as well as before. In this case the person who gained the most from the decline of Vick was of course Nick Foles. Foles threw for an incredible ratio of 27 touchdowns versus 2 interceptions. That stat will keep him the starter at least for two more years for the Eagles. His QB rating was 119.2. Another number that tells us all we need to know about Mike Vick and his inevitable departure from the Eagles…$615,000. That is Foles’ salary for 2014 which is just about 100k more than his third string back up’s salary. That is the downside of playing well before your contract is able to be renegotiated. Foles can’t do anything until after next season. He is forced to play for basically peanuts because of the new collective bargaining agreement. Way to go NFL Players Union. You did it again.
One has to wonder what Mike Vick would have done in Atlanta if he had not screwed up and gone to jail. Atlanta would look a lot different than it does now obviously. I am not sure Vick would have ever put together long stretches of consistency like a franchise QB needs to do. I believe the Falcons are better off since they got Matt Ryan after they were left high and dry by Vick. He is as steady as a QB can be in today’s NFL. Vick was exciting but exciting does not win games year after year. Solid play does that. Maybe he can start over in Jacksonville again and be a steadier player and less exciting. It would be better for the Jags and better for the player. Mike Vick could actually extend his career by a few years if he just focused on passing more and running less. If this scenario plays out it will be interesting to see how far up he can lift a team again. The Jaguars sure could use the help.
Thank you for reading. Ron Leyba is the lead editor of FantasyFootballOverdose.Com, and a sportseventsguide Analyst. For more of his NFL articles, follow his updates at NFL Fantasy Football Rankings Facebook page or follow him on twitter @ronniedare. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport – and “liking” our Facebook page.
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