Last week, I mentioned in my Carson Palmer piece that, if I were Andy Reid, I would trade Mike Vick in a heartbeat if I could get a deal like what Cincy got from Oakland for Palmer. Somehow, those two or three lines grabbed more attention than the five paragraphs that bracketed it. The debate that ensued lead me to expand on my point even further(because, with the NBA dead in the water and the World Series almost over, what else is there to write about?)
Let me start off by saying I don't think the Eagles NEED to trade Michael Vick. This isn't like the Palmer-Bengals situation where you're dealing with big money tied into dead weight. However, the Raiders overpaying for Palmer sets a precedent. Before you read any further and go into hysteria thinking "Why would the Eagles ever trade Mike Vick!? You're crazy...blah blah blah", think about a few things.
First, take yourself back to when Jason Campbell is slammed to the ground and his collarbone snaps like the leg to a chair being sat on by Rosie O'Donnell. The Eagles just beat the Redskins to move to a disappointing 2-4 in what's supposed to be their Super Bowl year. The Raiders now need a QB. You're Andy Reid. If the Raiders call you up and say we'll give you first round picks in 2012 and 2013(or a conditional 2nd rounder that could end up being a 1st rounder in '13, as it stands now in the Palmer trade), would you say no? Hold that thought until we're finished here.
Second, if not for Jerome Harrison's brain tumor, Ronnie Brown(one of Reid's many free agent acquisitions this past offseason) would be a Detroit Lion. Vince Young(another one of Reid's pickups this summer) and Asante Samuel(a Reid signing from a few years ago) were also on the block. That tells you that Reid is conceding that the idea of signing a bunch of big names in hopes that the sum of all the talented parts equals a title is a failed theory(which is what I've been saying from the get-go). The Eagles are 2-4 with arguably the most talented roster on paper. That brings me to this:
The Eagles are 2-4 with Mike Vick on pace to throw for 4,000 yards and rush for another 1,000 and completing nearly 62% of his passes. Those two wins came against a horrid Rams team in Week 1 and a floundering Redskins team that nearly came back to win despite four Rex Grossman interceptions. Vick, the fastest QB in the history of the game, has been sacked eight times, has taken shots on almost every drop back, and has thrown nine interceptions to eight touchdowns while fumbling seven times and losing three. Given what we've seen from the Eagles thus far, could they not be just as disappointing had Mike Kafka started from Week 1 on? I'm not saying the Eagles underwhelming start is all Vick's fault, but if the man who was signed to a 6-year, $100 million deal to be this team's anchor is playing to the best of his abilities and the team is STILL 2-4, shouldn't you at least consider the idea of selling high?
My reasoning to deal Vick has been put into motion by both Philly's bad start and the blueprint laid by the Palmer deal, but there is also other factors. This could be Andy Reid's final season in Philly. If he somehow can't right the ship and overcome being two games behind in a shaky NFC East after all the hype this team received this offseason then there's no chance he returns next season. I thought Philly would be a flop, but I didn't think they'd be 2-4 and losing to teams like Buffalo and San Francisco. Vick, meanwhile, is 31 and signed into a deal that will pay him handsomely until he's 37. With the pounding Vick takes thanks to both his style of play and the offensive line's inability to keep defenses off of him, the chances of Vick surviving the length of that deal are slim to none. Vick's played a full season once in his career. In this season alone, he's been knocked out at some point of half the games he's played this season and we're only six games deep. The prospects of him missing time this year with the rate he's getting hit are better than the Eagles chances of making the playoffs. Vick was a great story last year, but all stories come to an end and this already looks like a brutal chapter.
Now, Vick getting traded this season isn't happening now that the deadline is over and, as entertaining as wondering what would be if Oakland chose Vick instead of Palmer is as a topic of debate, the fact remains that Oakland has chosen to align their fate with Carson Palmer(which may look like a even worse decision than Philly giving Vick a six-year deal and $40 million guaranteed). However, next season, Vick will be 32 in June and Reid could be amongst the many unemployed residents of "The City of Brotherly Love". Could someone roll the dice on Vick then and, if so, who?
You have to throw Miami and Indianapolis out because they are the front-runners for Andrew Luck and, if Indy were to lose out on the number one pick, they wouldn't tab a 32-year old QB to be the heir apparent to 36-year old Peyton Manning. Seattle will probably be in the running for the non-Andrew Luck group in the draft, and thus won't want to mortgage their future on a battered QB with no proven track record as a franchise guy. The best bet for all parties would be shipping Vick to a contender with a young QB to send back for Reid(or whomever to groom) if they don't like Kafka. A contender that could use an upgrade at QB will be more willing to deal for a veteran like Vick than make another attempt at hitting big on a rookie in the draft and, thus, will be more willing to cough up some picks in the middle-to-late of the first round. I searched the league for solid fits. Kansas City makes some sense since Vick is an upgrade over Matt Cassel and the West is weak enough that Vick could contend each year. Plus, Kansas City is a couple players away from being legitimately scary(once Eric Berry and Jamaal Charles come back healthy, of course) and Vick under the tutelage of Todd Haley and with a receiving core of Dwayne Bowe, Jon Baldwin and Steve Breaston could be interesting. It might also be too risky. Even though Kansas City is a win on Monday night against San Diego from a three-way tie for first, they are also another bad injury away from going into the tank, which means a high pick in the draft. In a draft this stocked, I'm not giving up a high pick this year for a 32-year old QB.
The other team didn't come to me until I watch last night's Ravens-Jaguars game. Have we seen anything out of Joe Flacco over the course of his short career to make us confident he's "The Guy" for the Ravens going forward? Has Jersey Joe done anything in big games to suggest he can lead this team to the Promised Land? Sure, he's gotten the Ravens deep in the playoffs a couple of times and he was stellar in the Week 1 beatdown of long-time bump in the road Pittsburgh, but the more I watch of Flacco, the more concerned I become that he'll end his career as "just another guy", a Bledsoe-type who puts up good numbers in garbage time but never does anything significant. The Ravens are a win-now team with Ray Lewis and Ed Reed in the twilight of their career.
If you want to say that Flacco's struggles lately can be attributed to offensive coordinator Cam Cameron, so be it. My retort would be who are you going to bring in to replace Cameron that will improve this offense leaps and bounds? Ray Rice doesn't seem to be struggling from Cameron's offense. With Flacco, I see a guy who holds the ball too long behind an offensive line with three Pro Bowlers(Bryant McKinnie, Andre Gurode, and Matt Birk) and emerging stars in Ben Grubbs, Marshall Yanda and Michael Oher and takes hits when he shouldn't. That flaw took Aaron Rodgers a year and a half to fix and Ben Roethlisberger still struggles with it but both of those guys have managed to have success and use their athletic gifts to make up for their posturing with the football when the pass rush comes. If you're a Ravens fan, would you really go crazy if Ozzie Newsome sent Flacco and this year's first rounder to Philly for Mike Vick? Are you really that confident that Flacco will improve in time to capitalize off having two Hall of Famers on defense and a team that's Super Bowl-ready RIGHT NOW?
Some of you will see "trade Vick to Baltimore" and be apoplectic. You'd be the same few who flipped when Reid dealt McNabb when everyone thought he had something left in the tank. It turns out McNabb didn't and Reid cut bait at the perfect time. This may be another one of those scenarios. Reid has struggled to find an offensive line that can protect Vick. In Baltimore, Vick wouldn't have that problem(although he will have to deal with Oher's chronic holding problem). As for Philly, Flacco could still be salvageable in the right hands. Again, if you're of the belief that Cameron is holding Flacco back then being under the guidance of someone like Marty Morninweg could be beneficial to a 26-year old QB.
As I said in the Palmer piece, two-first round picks could get you a lot in the NFL, as could dangling a still-promising QB with one of those picks. I'm not convinced that Flacco is the guy in Baltimore and the Ravens are taking a huge risk with an aging defense by rolling the dice that he eventually will be their Big Ben. If you're going to roll the dice, why not do it upgrading the one flaw in your armor. The Eagles don't HAVE to trade Mike Vick, but if someone were to call with a good offer, how could they really say no?
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