The quarterback position has been vital to any NFL team’s success in recent years. Teams with an All-Star Quarterback tend to put together strands of winning seasons. The difficulty of finding a franchise quarterback makes a signal caller one of the most demanded positions in the NFL. Struggling teams traditionally look to the NFL draft for an upgrade at this position but as we saw last season with Carson Palmer, a temporary upgrade can possibly be found from within.
Prior to Jay Cutler’s contract extension, Cutler and Michael Vick were notably hot topics in upcoming free agency. While Cutler may not be available anymore, Vick has made it clear he is looking for a starting job in the upcoming 2014 season. Since Nick Foles has cemented his starting spot with the Eagles, it seems Vick must go elsewhere to fulfill his wishes.
Teams with early draft picks may be targeting the big three of quarterbacks; Bortles, Bridgewater, and Manziel. Unfortunately, those who had subpar seasons may not have a chance to get one of these draftees as they may all be gone by the time Oakland picks at five. If St. Louis decides to trade their number two overall pick, it is even possible that these three quarterbacks are the first three taken.
Since there are teams picking outside of the top four that are still in dire need of a quarterback, they have the option to take a chance on one of the other quarterbacks, try out Michael Vick for a season, or a combination of the two. While Vick’s injuries are still very prominent, Vick may be a safe option at quarterback for some teams. Let’s take a look at some of the possible landing spots for Michael Vick, assuming he will be interested in starting.
Oakland:
Since Oakland is still picking at number five, they may have their chance at one of the top three quarterbacks. If not, any quarterback still on the board could be a fairly huge reach. Another option would be to bring Vick along and use the fifth overall pick to give him a weapon in Sammy Watkins. Suddenly, Oakland looks as if they may have some actual firepower on offense.
Minnesota:
Christian Ponder does not seem to be the answer for the Vikings. His inconsistency may drive Minnesota’s new regime to look for a new signal caller this offseason. With work-horse Adrian Peterson back, carrying this offense on his shoulders, a quarterback with the ability to run (or any quarterback for that matter) will help take some of the pressure off of Peterson.
Tennessee:
Chris Johnson may be gone in 2014 and Jake Locker may be put by the wayside. This leaves many question marks for Tennessee’s offense. Bringing along Michael Vick would help them to put some pieces in place while they find another quarterback for the future. If they do decide to start fresh at quarterback, bringing in a young quarterback would merely create a competition between two young quarterbacks. While Vick and Locker may also create a competition at quarterback, bringing Vick along will be similar to them bringing Matt Hasselbeck along a few years ago to mentor Locker.
Cleveland:
Rumor has it that Cleveland is very interested in drafting a quarterback, more specifically Johnny Manziel. While I don’t think this is the most likely landing spot for Vick, it is still a possibility. If the quarterback they want, whoever it may be, is gone at number four, they could opt to go another route. Since this team has so little on offense, aside from Josh Gordon, they could choose to bring along Vick to run the offense temporarily while they continuously look for pieces to add to the puzzle.
While Vick may not get his opportunity to start, it is certainly worth noting that a player that has had so much success in this league is set to be a free agent. These are some spots I feel he would have his best opportunity to start, though bigger surprises have happened.
Minnesota all day.. no pun intended