That's the word from Yahoo! Sports columnist Jason Cole, who has a couple of those nefarious anonymous sources to back up his claims. In all honesty, I would be surprised if we don't see a suspension on its way in the next few days. As some writers have correctly noted, this isn't Vick's first brush with trouble this offseason. If the dogfighting allegations were not preceded by him flipping off the fans, the water bottle incident, or the extremely overblown no-show in Washington, this might not be happening. Given Goodell's determination to suspend anyone who has gotten into trouble this offseason, you have to believe Vick might be watching Falcons games from home for a while.
Vick met with Goodell in New York, shortly after the raid on Vick's property, before the NFL draft in April. Vick told Goodell and said publicly that he never went to the house and that he was unaware of what his family and friends were doing there.
This is apparently the crux of any upcoming suspension; remember, Vick's been denying he ever knew this was going on for a long time now. The indictment isn't even close to a sure sign of his guilt, but because he's going to be summoned to court soon it seems likely there was enough evidence to suspect he knew something about it. If Goodell feels he was lied to--and there's every indication from these ghostly league sources that he does--he's going to be feeling a lot of pressure to crack the whip. Add that to the fact that Pacman and others have been suspended without being convicted and you have a situation that I'm afraid won't be resolved in a happy fashion.
Just to add to the horrible sense of dread, Cole finishes his article on an ominous note:
Help me.
Update [2007-7-18 10:31:57 by Dave the Falconer]:: There's some quality analysis over at new Falcons blog Falcon Reporter that I'd suggest you check out. Writer T. Love thinks it would be in the best interest of everyone involved if Vick was simply suspended for the year. I think it's much more likely that he'll get 4-8 games, but it's probably too early to tell.