Michael Vick's 2010: The Worst Thing for Philadelphia Eagles in a Decade

When the Philadelphia Eagles decided to cut ties with their franchise quarterback of a decade, Donovan McNabb, in the spring of 2010, Andy Reid’s plan was to turn the franchise over to Kevin Kolb, who the Eagles had taken in the second round of the 2007 draft.

Michael Vick had spent the 2009 season on the Eagles roster, appearing in all 12 games he was eligible after sitting out a four-game suspension related to his conviction on federal dog-fighting charges. But Vick was a gimmick in 2009, an afterthought who attempted 13 passes, completing six for 86 yards and a touchdown and carrying the ball 24 times for 95 yards and two scores.

Vick was the Wildcat quarterback, the change-of-pace.

That was Reid’s plan. It just didn’t turn out that way and, in the process, the Eagles made a commitment that could set the franchise back for years.

Kolb left the 2010 season opener with a concussion. Vick came on in relief and delivered a scintillating performance against the Green Bay Packers. He was 16-for-24 for 175 yards and a touchdown and ran for 103 yards on 11 carries. That launched Vick toward a career year in 2010.

He missed five games with various injuries, but that didn’t stop him from establishing career highs in completion percentage (62.6), passing yards (3,018), passing touchdowns (21), interception percentage (1.6) and quarterback rating (100.2).

Analysts raved about the new Vick, the game-changing athlete who had melded an accurate throwing arm and pocket presence to his lightning-quick feet.

The numbers Vick put up in 2010 were astounding—and radically different than those he had put up as a starting quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons from 2002-06.

As a Falcon, Vick completed 53.8 percent of his passes and threw 52 interceptions to 71 touchdowns. His overall rating with the Falcons was 75.7; Vick’s best single-season mark was an 81.6 he posted in his first year as a starter in 2002.

Throughout the lockout, the speculation was that the Eagles were prepared to send Kolb on his way, that the franchise had settled on Vick as their guy. Almost immediately after the players and owners settled their differences, Kolb was sent to the Arizona Cardinals in a trade that yielded Pro Bowl cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.

Near the end of the preseason, the Eagles and Vick agreed to terms on six-year, $100 million contract that included $40 million in guaranteed money.

Fast forward through 15 weeks of the 2011 season and it’s reasonable to wonder whether turning the keys to the franchise over to Vick was such a good idea after all.

He’s missed three games with broken ribs. He was knocked out of a game earlier this season with a concussion. But that’s not atypical for Vick, who has managed to complete a full 16-game schedule once in his nine-year career.

Vick’s passing, while not as scatter-shot as it was in his Atlanta days, hasn’t been nearly as good in 2011 as it was in 2010. He’s already thrown more than twice as many interceptions this season, 13, as he did in 2010. His yards-per-attempt is down a half-yard. His completion percentage is back under 60 percent at 59.9.

While it hasn’t been a full-fledged reversion to the mean, 2011 has unquestionably been a step back for Vick. This isn’t a complete surprise—Vick’s completion percentage dipped below 60 percent in each of Philadelphia’s last two games in 2010, both losses. So that regression was already happening.

The Eagles chose to believe the real Michael Vick was the one who completed 66.4 percent of his passes for 1,226 yards and eight touchdowns to just two interceptions during a four-game stretch from Nov. 15 through Dec. 2

Because of his size (6’ and 215 pounds) in combination with his reckless style, durability will always be an issue. He’ll be 32 at the end of June, which means the combination of age and the number of hits he’s absorbed has to start chipping away at his speed sooner rather than later.

What it all means is that when—not if, but when—the Eagles finally decide Vick isn’t the franchise guy they thought he was, there are only two possible outcomes: Either Philadelphia wastes the best years of LeSean McCoy’s career with a fading quarterback or they take a cap hit for three or four years that prevents them from making other necessary roster moves.

Ultimately, the decision to commit $40 million guaranteed to a mercurial talent such as Vick will hurt the Eagles for much of the rest of the decade.