Eagles to Keep Vick
ESPN’s Adam Schefter is reporting that the Eagles are expected to pick up the option on Michael Vick’s contract and pay him the $1.5 million roster bonus he is due at the end of the week. He goes on to say that the Eagles are planning on keeping him for another season.
This news comes as a surprise to many who swore the Eagles would not pay him the bonus nor would they be willing to pay him the escalated salary he is signed for next season. What these folks forgot to take into consideration was the fact that there will be no salary cap next season and the Eagles have plenty of cash to spend.
Philadelphia is one of the big money teams in the league and can pretty much afford to do what they want to do in terms of salary. They also been very shrewd in managing money in the past so as to avoid over-extending themselves with deferred bonus money and the like. With an uncapped year they do not have to worry about taking a cap hit for carrying Vick’s contract next season.
If there were going to be a salary cap next season then one can be rest assured that Vick either would have been dealt or released by the end of this week. But without cap considerations to worry about the Eagles have the luxury of carrying three quarterbacks like McNabb, Kolb, and Vick.
The Eagles, of course, are going to play this close to the vest and insist that McNabb is their quarterback and that they intend on keeping Vick for the balance of the season. What this essentially does is it bumps up Vick’s trade value. A lot of teams were only making token offers or simply waiting for the end of the week when Vick was expected to be cut loose rather than receive his roster bonus. Now if teams want Vick they are going to have to come up on their offer or wait until next spring to have a crack at him.
What this also does is leads to speculation as to whether Kolb or McNabb are going to be around come the opening of training camp. The Eagles insist they are not interested in trading any of their quarterbacks, but, one has to think they will entertain the idea for the right package of draft picks.
I have always been of the opinion that Vick’s fate with the team could signal what the Eagles are thinking in terms of their quarterback next season. Andy Reid would never think of going into next season with Kevin Kolb as the only experienced quarterback in his offense. If Vick stays that means the Eagles are considering moving on with Kolb as the starter. If Vick were to leave it would ensure that McNabb would be the starter next season. With Vick staying in Philadelphia it could signal that the Eagles are seriously considering moving their franchise quarterback while they can still get a first round pick for him.
This could be the start of what could be a very wild off season in Philadelphia with speculation as to who will be the starting quarterback and which free agents they are going to spend cash on.
