Suuure, Let Us Take Him...

One story I read this morning as I was cavorting around the internet looking for an interesting angle was that of Michael Vick.

Vick, for those of you who either don't read newspapers or the "internet", have lived under a rock for the past three years or have recently immigrated from Mongolia, was the highest paid player in the NFL playing QB for the Atlanta Falcons. Two summers ago he was placed directly in the middle of a very large dog-fighting ring of which he was found to be the ring-leader and chief financier.

In December of 2007 Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison and he has been serving his time ever since.

Vick was suspended indefinitely by the NFL but was never technically cut by the Falcons. He still remains their property to this day.

The reason this issue is relevant again is because Vick will be eligible for parole come July 21 and the Falcons are being forced to consider their options. If and when Vick is released this summer and subsequently reinstated by the NFL, his old contract will kick back in that runs to 2013 and calls for him to receive a base salary of US$9 million and a bonus of $6.43 million in 2009. The remainder of the contract is worth $45.11 million, with another possible $3 million in Pro Bowl bonuses.

The Falcons have announced their intentions to trade his rights. If they can’t find a trade partner and they release Vick once he is reinstated, they would take a $15.430 million salary-cap hit in 2009.

That's a big deal.

So far there have been no teams come out and say they want him, not surprisingly, as the P.R nightmare alone that would create would be awful business for many teams.

What caught my eye specifically about this story though was one writer's opinion that he could make his return in the CFL.

Here are some pros and cons:

Pro: Vick in his prime was a superbly talented and eminently exciting quarterback
Con: I don't think the slammer's training regimen is as strict as he's been used to

Pro: Vick's combination of pass and run makes him a perfect fit for the CFL style of game
Con: There's no telling how all those prison showers will effect his ability to scramble

Pro: The Longest Yard profiled a prolific jail-house football team and was an awesome movie
Con: So was All Dogs Go To Heaven

Pro: Ricky Williams seemed to fit in pretty well in his season in the NFL
Con: Canadians generally have more sympathy for people who smoke weed than those who murder dogs....just sayin'

...and the list goes on

Now the CFL did institute a rule after the Ricky Williams saga saying no NFL player under contract with a team may play in the CFL while under suspension, if Vick were to be reinstated and released, this rule would not apply to him.

If I were a team owner, either in the CFL, NFL, USFL (does that even exist anymore?) Arena League or Flag Football, I wouldn't touch Vick with a 20-foot pole. This guy is poison.

While some say he'd be a great fit for any team looking to run the 'wild-cat' offense that combines passing, running 'the option' and different players and positions playing from the quarterback slot, Vick's combination of time in prison plus awful reputation carries a fairly large stink around with him.

It's probably a good bet Vick ends up playing somewhere not for the 2009, but the 2010 season. There will always be one crazy owner out there willing to take a chance on a troubled, yet talented personality (Jerry Jones are you listening?....Pacman Jones, Tank Johnson, Terrell Owens).

I just hope that owner doesn't currently run a franchise operating north of the 44.