What factors are needed for Vick to sign?

[Patler]

Not just with the Packers, but with any team? Obviously, the locker room needs to be accepting. Probably a team like GB, where fans have a lower PETA compassion would help. These are sort of givens. Additionally, I think:

- Vick needs to have low income expectations, maybe only slightly above minimum.
- Team and Vick have to agree to a short term, maybe 1 or 2 years only.
- Vick can't expect much of a signing bonus.
- Vick has to be willing to play other than QB, and perhaps return kicks. Can you imagine Michael Vick returning kickoffs?

What other factors are there?

[MichiganPackerFan]

Re: What factors are needed for Vick to sign?

- Vick needs to have low income expectations, maybe only slightly above minimum.

I can't remember: does Vick have any monumental financial liabilities outstanding, possibly owed to Atlanta or elsewhere?

Overall, I believe the key to his return is that Vick demonstrates a genuine sense of humility for what has occurred and a confidence and motivation to progress positively both off the field and on. I think teams also need to be convinced that he's the same tremendous athlete he was two years ago and that the rust will be easily removed.

[Chevelle2]

-Small town where the media coverage won't be as intense (such as in NY)

-Loyal fanbase


And, regarding the Packers, it sounds bad but Flynn and Brohm are gonna have to suck tonight.

[Brando19]

-Small town where the media coverage won't be as intense (such as in NY)

-Loyal fanbase


And, regarding the Packers, it sounds bad but Flynn and Brohm are gonna have to suck tonight.

I'm all for signing Vick. As Patler said, Vick returning kicks...playing some WR...even the wildcat scheme...all that is very exciting and would keep defenses on their toes.

[pbmax]

He cannot truly play a single position outside of QB. He is not a RB, H-back or WR. He will not play on special teams. So you must be able to carry him as a QB and the rest is change of pace. He probably is not physically ready for QB and he won't know your system (he did do West Coast under Mora but had some of his worst seasons) so he will need to be the 3rd QB.

In Green Bay, that means either some multi-position players need to make the roster of single spot guys (eg. Preston over Wells), or you can't have the Special Teams demon, or Brohm or Flynn will need to be dumped.

[Patler]

He will not play on special teams.

You don't think he would return kicks and punts?
I think initially it is how he could contribute the most.

[Bretsky]

For Vick da Prick to garner interest

Near Minimum Wage
One Year Deal
Willingness to play anywhere and accept having no opportunity to start
Strong GM and coach have strong fan support and are willing to take crap

NE is a very good fit

In Green Bay, I'd pass on Vick da prick

We're a young team and IMO we don't need a bad person to enter the locker

Flynn right now is a better passer, and

it's not worth letting Brohm loose and admitting TTT wasted the pick we received for Corey Williams...yet

He belongs on the Raiders with Al Davis

[Bossman641]

Re: What factors are needed for Vick to sign?

- Vick needs to have low income expectations, maybe only slightly above minimum.

I can't remember: does Vick have any monumental financial liabilities outstanding, possibly owed to Atlanta or elsewhere?

I believe Vick has some rather large liabilities outstanding to creditors. I don't know the exact details, but I'm pretty sure the plan Vick and his lawyers put forth was under the assumption he would be making big bucks in the NFL. I don't know what was eventually settled on.

[Bossman641]

Here you go, this is from about a week ago

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/football/nfl/07/31/vick.bankruptcy.ap/index.html

Though a judge ruled that Michael Vick's bankruptcy plan can be sent to creditors to vote on, it remains unclear how the out-of-work quarterback will get the income to pay them.

Vick declined to answer reporters' questions before and after a hearing Friday on his Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Frank Santoro ruled that the plan can move forward after nobody objected.

The plan now goes to Vick's creditors. After they vote, Santoro will conduct a confirmation hearing on Aug. 27.

Creditors approved Vick's first plan, but Santoro rejected it in April, saying it was not feasible. This time, Vick has proposed selling off more assets and giving creditors a bigger cut of his future income.

But the plan is based largely on Vick's prospective earnings from his goal of returning to the NFL, which still is not a sure thing.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell conditionally reinstated Vick on Monday, a week after Vick completed his 23-month sentence for running a dogfighting ring. Goodell said Vick can sign with a team and begin playing by week six. Vick said Thursday that he is "getting close" to signing but did not offer any details.

Several NFL teams have said they're not interested in signing the 29-year-old Vick.

"Mr. Vick's time horizon in his professional career is not unlimited," Santoro said.

The judge also postponed action on requests for payment by Vick's attorneys, saying he wanted to wait until all the legal bills are in. A New York-based law firm is asking for $1.5 million after slashing its original request of nearly $2.7 million. A Norfolk firm is seeking $385,000.

Santoro demanded an explanation from one of the New York attorneys, Michael Blumenthal, on how his firm could bill Vick for 8,000 hours of work in less than a year.

"This case is probably the most difficult case I've ever been involved in," Blumenthal said.

He noted that Vick was in the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan., when the bankruptcy petition was filed in July 2008, making attorney-client communication difficult. And Vick's finances were in shambles, requiring a Herculean effort to track down assets, bank accounts and financial records.

"We started at below ground zero," Blumenthal said, adding that five lawyers at his firm spent substantial time on the case.

Vick's lawyers also endured an acrimonious battle, largely behind the scenes, with one of his major creditors -- Joel Enterprises Inc., the company owned by Vick's former agent. Joel objected at virtually every step on the bankruptcy process before the two sides finally settled their differences.

On another matter, Santoro rejected a motion for Blumenthal's colleague, Peter Ginsberg, to withdraw from the case. The lawyers in Vick's criminal case asked Ginsberg to withdraw after a federal appeals court upheld sanctions against him in an unrelated case in Florida. Ginsberg said he had not been actively involved in Vick's case recently anyway.

Santoro said Ginsberg did nothing wrong in Virginia, and his troubles in Florida had no bearing on Vick's case.

[sharpe1027]

He will not play on special teams.

You don't think he would return kicks and punts?
I think initially it is how he could contribute the most.

Maybe, but I wouldn't count on it.

Kick returns have coverage guys coming full speed in their lanes. The returner follow their blockers and look for a crease. Thus, good kick returners are often north-south guys that setup the return for one good cut and then are gone. They may make one guy miss with a juke, but more important is finding that crease and turning on the burners.

Punt returns are first about knowing how to catching in traffic and when to call for the fair catch. If you are shaky at that, don't bother. Returning is a bonus.

I have no idea on Vick's ability to cach the ball and read the ball's flight in the air. Plus, while Vick's outstanding at setting up a defender that is in front of him and waiting to make the tackle, that doesn't necessarily translate to special teams where guys are coming with a full head of steam and you have to set them up with your own blockers.

Maybe, but I wouldn't expect it.

[pbmax]

He will not play on special teams.

You don't think he would return kicks and punts?
I think initially it is how he could contribute the most.

He might decide to. But given the amount of money he owes, I am not sure he could reasonably take that risk. I guess it depends on the offers he is getting. If he must agree to do it to sign a deal, then he might. But I think from that point forward there would be resistance since what he really wants is another shot at starting as QB.

[SkinBasket]

He will not play on special teams.

You don't think he would return kicks and punts?
I think initially it is how he could contribute the most.

He might decide to. But given the amount of money he owes, I am not sure he could reasonably take that risk. I guess it depends on the offers he is getting. If he must agree to do it to sign a deal, then he might. But I think from that point forward there would be resistance since what he really wants is another shot at starting as QB.

That was the problem with Vick that I had in the other thread. If he can contribute in some way to the team, I guess I'm not going to throw my shoe at the TV every time he takes the field.

If he wants to come to Green Bay simply to start rehabbing his career by laying low and riding the bench, then there's no benefit to the team, especially given the possibility for negative media, sponsor, and fan reaction, not to mention the extra media attention and distraction to his teammates his presence will bring to any team.

Long story short, if he'll play some kind of role on the team other than QB, bring him on at a low price for the year and use him. If he can't, or won't, contribute to the team, it makes less than zero sense to have him around.

[bobblehead]

We must travel in time and change the fact that he ran an illegal dog fighting ring.

[Patler]

He will not play on special teams.

You don't think he would return kicks and punts?
I think initially it is how he could contribute the most.

He might decide to. But given the amount of money he owes, I am not sure he could reasonably take that risk. I guess it depends on the offers he is getting. If he must agree to do it to sign a deal, then he might. But I think from that point forward there would be resistance since what he really wants is another shot at starting as QB.

Well sure he WANTS a shot at QB, but I doubt a long term, high value contract will come his way this season. I think he has to earn his way back into the NFL.

No one knows for sure if he can catch kicks or not, but he was one of the fastest NFL players two seasons ago and has ball carrying ability. All I am suggesting is that he needs to be willing to try.

In my opinion, Vick needs to be willing to sign for little, perhaps with incentives, for a short term, and be willing to do anything asked of him to earn his way back in. If he is going to wait for a starting QB opportunity right off the bat, at a starting QB's compensation, I think he will wait forever, because no one will offer that this year.

By the way, Vick's initial bankruptcy plan was rejected by the bankruptcy court because it relied to heavily on a huge NFL income. The court came out and told him to sell more assets and assume he would have an income only a fraction of what he had before, that it was unrealistic to assume anything else.

[pbmax]

His bankruptcy plan still relies on NFL income, though. And that applies dual pressures, to get back into the league and to get back to QB.

I am certain he will want to limit his exposure on Special Teams. Whether he will be able to avoid them entirely is a function of what kind of contracts he has to choose from. And that might depend on injuries and the ability of current backups to perform. It just takes one team to panic.