Lucas at Large: Can you imagine Michael Vick in Green Bay?
Mike Lucas
Me neither.
I can't imagine Michael Vick in Green Bay.
Can't condone what he did. Or who he is -- an ex-con/con-man.
But if the Packers are looking to trump what certainly looms as a distraction -- Brett Favre playing for the Minnesota Vikings -- maybe they should create their own distraction by, at least, checking out Michael Vick.
There are catches, most notably Vick's availability. The Commish has yet to rule on reinstatement. It's reasonable to assume, based on Roger Goodell's track record, that Vick will be suspended X-number of games, if not for the whole season.
What's the worst thing that could happen to Vick if he relocated to Green Bay? How about someone shooting HIS dog? In fairness, the old Dan Devine story got blown out of proportion though one of his dogs was killed by a stray bullet.
Allegedly.
So what could Michael Vick offer the Packers or any other team in the NFL? Think about it. Think about all the backup quarterbacks in the league, and all of the backups to the backups. Now measure them against Vick.
Do you really think Vick would finish last in this competition? Of course not. Doesn't matter that he hasn't played in two years. He has more skill, more athleticism, more game-changing ability than any backup, and many starters.
Great quote from Michael Irvin, the quintessential play-maker. "Michael Vick was 10 steps ahead of every quarterback when it came to running the ball,'' Irvin told the Associated Press. "Maybe now he's only three steps ahead.''
Do the math. That still puts Vick ahead of everybody else (read: Wildcat formation). You wouldn't add Vick to your roster with the idea that he was going to beat out your starter. But you would add Vick to expand your offense.
Added Irvin, who knows something about QB's and skill-position players, "He's still enormously different ... (but) for Michael Vick's sake, he needs to be on a strong team with strong leadership ability.''
That alone would probably eliminate the Packers.
For one thing, Ted Thompson is not likely to admit that he made a mistake on Brian Brohm, a second-round draft pick. Thompson is not likely to make that admission even though the Packers seem to like Matt Flynn more than Brohm.
At some point, the Packers could pay for having such inexperience backups.
At this point, Vick has paid for his indiscretions with his incarceration. The Feds had their say. What's next? NFL justice, and Goodell will have the last word on Vick's sentence and status for the 2009 season. Somebody will take a chance on Vick (if given the opportunity), and won't regret it.