Break Bread: Eagles Give Vick Roster Bonus

Vick was in Baltimore Tuesday where he received the Ed Block Courage Award as the Eagles selection.

Mike Vick did enough work during his limited action in 2009 for the Eagles to decide to keep him on the roster (at least for now) and pay him a $1.5 million bonus Wednesday. Vick signed a 2-year deal with Philly after getting released from prison last summer and is scheduled to make more than $5 mill this season. Even though the Eagles decided to break bread with the multi-talented quarterback, odds are they will try to move him via trade, most likely for a 2nd round pick or comparable compensation but only if the deal is right.

The Eagles currently have 3 quarterbacks on the roster, with Donovan McNabb remaining the starter after signing an extension last summer that has him under contract through 2010. But with a $6 million roster bonus scheduled to hit on Cinco de Mayo, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Eagles tried to unload D-Mac to save some cheese. It’s a safe bet that between McNabb, Vick and the other solid backup Kevin Kolb, one of these men will not be with the squad come opening kickoff. Vick is the likely choice, considering that he has made it known that he wants to start. But that’s not really up to him and could be tough titty as an old head would say.

It’s baffling that a team with a quarterback deficiency, like say the Rams, would not be willing to part with their 2nd round pick in exchange for one of the most dynamic quarterbacks in NFL history. Vick still has a solid arm, great wheels and a lot left in the tank. Why risk a draft pick on an unproven player when you can have Vick, which would guarantee a boost in attendance and jersey sales.

Unome! Vick Gets To Keep His Bonus Cheese

Even though he’s played about as much as Plaxico Burress this season, our knig Mike Vick has something to smile about. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Vick and awarded him $16 million in bonuses owed to him by the Atlanta Falcons. The team initially won an arbitration and refused to break bread with their former #1 pick. But Judge David Doty, who handles a number of cases for the NFL, ruled that Vick is owed the cheese because he earned the bonuses before heading to the clink on an 18-month bid for dogfighting charges.

Vick filed for bankruptcy earlier this year and signed a 2-year contract with the Eagles, with $1.6 mill heading his (and his creditor’s) way this season, with a team option for a little over $5 mill next year. At this point it is a general consensus that Vick will be making his next move his best one next season, preferably heading to a team where he can actually get some burn, of which there are a plenty. Either way Vick is going to have a little more cake in his pocket to get it cracking on those lonely nights when spankwire just won’t cut it.

BET Rolling With Mike Vick

When Vick got out of jail, you knew it was only a matter of time before he would end up selling the rights to his story. That time is 2010, when BET plans on releasing an 8 episode docu-series chronicling Vick’s life. Vick is pretty much broke as a joke and already playing with house money, owing creditors somewhere in the neighborhood of $20 mill, after all his cheese got snatched following his case. At this point the dude is willing to do anything to make a quick check, on top of his small potato contract with the Eagles.

The show is tentatively called The Michael Vick Project and creators say the show will stray away from the traditional athlete type series. As to be expected, animal rights groups are rearing there annoying heads and once again complaining and trying to prevent the rehabilitated Vick from moving on with his life. BET’s Director of programming, Loretha Jones had this to say about the show:

I did not reach out for this show in order to court controversy … It’s important for us to capture this important moment to see what someone does when they have the opportunity to rebuild themselves. It might serve as a road map for young men facing the same challenge.

One thing is for sure, we will definitely be watching this joint when it comes out.