Is Vick Really A Falcon For Life?

Tim Tucker had a very interesting article back on Monday that detailed what exactly would happen if the Falcons booted  Vick to the curb. The basic assumption for pretty much everyone who writes or thinks about the Falcons at all is that Vick's contract more or less makes him impossible to trade or cut. If Arthur Blank ever (crappy metaphor alert) put on his wide-brimmed hat and tried to switch Joey Harrington in for the golden Vick, he would likely be crushed by a rolling boulder made of money (end crappy metaphor). Tucker says that's not necessarily the case, especially if he was released after June 1.

Now, the team clearly isn't going to cut him this season unless he shows up to camp and kickboxes a pitbull in front of Pet Rhino. If Vick is cleared of all charges, I'm definitely hoping he gets one last chance to prove his worth under the new regime. But it's comforting to know that if the team urgently needed to cut him, they'd receive only a $6 million hit for this year and a slightly more prohibitive $15 million hit the next year. I don't think I have to tell anyone that that's not chump change, especially in the second year. At the same time, it's definitely feasible. If the Falcons simply decide that Vick isn't working out from a talent perspective, it's useful for we fans to know we can call for the team to drop kick him across Flowery Branch and not come across sounding like crazy people. This is a good thing.

So let's rejoice and hope that Vick improves and we can just go along being happy the team is paying him until they bleed. It will help distract us from the fact that Arthur Blank gave one of the dumbest contracts in football history to a guy who still has yet to earn it.