Vick doesn’t appear to be on Vikings radar
July 29th, 2009 – 7:57 AM by Judd ZulgadShortly after Brett Favre told the Vikings that he would remain retired late Tuesday afternoon, a few national reporters began to throw out the possibility that Michael Vick might be a good fit in Minnesota.
I’m sure part of the thinking was that if the Vikings were willing to wait this long on Favre, this team must be desperate at quarterback. However, don’t expect to see Vick in a Vikings uniform.
A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed the organization doesn’t have interest in Vick. The Vikings will move ahead with Tarvaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels battling for the starting job in training camp and with John David Booty behind those two.
The Vikings’ lack of interest in Vick shouldn’t come as a shock considering team execs pretty much dismissed the subject at the NFL Scouting Combine last February in Indianapolis. And while Vick is now free to sign with an NFL team after commissioner Roger Goodell ruled on the matter this week, it’s difficult to believe the Vikings would want to take the public relations hit that is going to come with bringing Vick on board.
What Vick has going for him is the fact that former Indianapolis coach and all-around good guy Tony Dungy is going to serve as his mentor. But even that almost certainly wouldn’t be enough for Vikings owner Zygi Wilf to take the risk of signing Vick. Wilf has gone to great lengths to clean up things in Minnesota and create a positive public perception of his franchise. Remember, the Love Boat incident on Lake Minnetonka happened in Wilf’s first season as an owner. Brad Childress was hired as head coach in January 2006 in large part because he presented a no-nonsense plan when it came to player conduct.
The other part of this — and this is purely from a business standpoint — is that while signing Vick might create buzz much of it would be negative. The pursuit of Favre might have annoyed some folks, but the risk was worth the potential reward on a few fronts. One was that if Favre ended up with the Vikings, the team not only would have been virtually assured of selling out the Metrodome but obviously the franchise felt it could get some momentum in its push for a new stadium.
Vick, coming off a 23-month sentence for promoting dog fighting, is likely to cause (at least initially) protests outside of whatever stadiums he enters. Favre might have been guilty of waffling but that doesn’t cause anyone to stand outside a stadium with a sign in an attempt to show their disgust. Vick’s presense on the Vikings, in fact, could actually damage Wilf’s chances to get a stadium — it would give the politicians something to jump on — and it’s no secret that getting a new venue remains an uphill battle.
By the way, Chip and I will be heading to Mankato this morning. Vikings players will begin reporting to Mankato this evening, but since they don’t need to officially be at Gage Center until Thursday morning we don’t know how many guys we will see. We’ll also be attempting a live chat at 1 p.m. central from Mankato. Hopefully, all the technology works out without a glitch.
26 Responses to "Vick doesn’t appear to be on Vikings radar"
Grab Tebow in next springs draft…And go with the QB’s you have already for this fall…
We still have a GREAT team going into this season..An old man staying retired doesn’t change that….
GO VIKES !!!!
Vick? I guess we need a left handed T-Jack.
Vikings need to finally hit on a quality QB in the draft !!!..Hopefully Spielman and company can find that proverbial “diamond in the rough” this spring to compete with Booty next year…
But I’m not saying that Sage or maybe
T-Jack can’t be effective this year ??
Just saying its the Vikings turn to pull a stud out of the draft for a change !!…Its our turn find the “big name” out there !!!
Thank god we most likely aren’t pursuing Vick. No way I want that piece of excrement on this team.
We can’t have too high of expectations for T-Jack, remember he’s basically still a rookie.
Tebow has never really impressed me all that much, dunno if he can make the transition to the NFL, alot of good college QB’s couldn’t.
Vick would help the Vikes tremendously, with percy harvin and vick in the backfield and the new wildcat offense we would dominate, plus we still have All Day Adrian Pederson, he is the most dominating running back out there. We also have a great O line… minus Matt Birk 
… our recieving core is getting continuously better, and with the wild cat and AP the coverage would loosen up and we could just lob it up to them 30 yds down field. Our run D-fence is the best in the league and our pass D is getting better… all this just shws that adding vick would definately make us a playoff maybe even a superbowl team. GET VICK!!!
I understand what Vick did was wrong in the eyes of this country… But in some countries dog fighting is a sport just like cock fighting… so all of you quit acting like, we’re above this… Vick did it,he apologized, he went to jail, he did everything we asked him to. the commisioner is over it we should be to.
Bleed, the problem is that we won’t be bad enough to grab a Bradford or McCoy in the draft, we’re most likely going to have to wait for one of the “2nd Tier” guys and hope he turns out. But that will be up to the new coaching staff.
I’m sick of this “game manager” QB idea. Damnit, I want a QB that opposing teams are scared of. Someone that won’t allow defenses to stack 9 in the box to stop AD. T-Joke isn’t that guy, Sage hasn’t shown that he is, and Vick is no more accurate with this throws than T-Joke.
Chili and Co. screwed the pooch when they didn’t make a serious effort to get Cutler or Cassel. But the QB guru knows best, he can take any moldy piece of clay and make it a craptastic QB.
Just look at Tarvar….
er, Brooks Boll…
uh, Mike McMaho…
um, Tyler Thig….
er, JT O’Sull….
um, Kelly Holc…
uh, Gus Frer…
um, Brad John….
ah, that Detmer kid was, uh….
mnwild, that still doesn’t mean we have to forget what he did (or forgive him for it), let alone want him on the team.
Vick is not that great of a QB. He’s a very good running back with questionable throwing skills and decision making ability (we already have one of those). He’s always been a run first, throw 2nd QB.
Vick gets a second chance, I’m fine with that. But I didn’t like him as a QB BEFORE he did what he did, why would I want him on our team now???
Only those who don’t eat meat or wear leather/fur should be allowed to be sanctimonious about Vick’s former hobby.
Judd
Your not going to St. Norbert College this year?
Weird.
The wildcat is a gimmick. It works occasionally but there is no reason to sign a scumbag like vick (who is just a faster Tarvaris) for the 10 plays you will use it over the season.
I am excited to see JDB this preseason, he won’t win the job this year (please be sage, please be sage)but next year will be a legitimate shot for him.
Good morning fellow commenters!
It’s currently sunny and 68 degrees here in Minnesota, heading for a partly cloudy high of 75 today (sorry Tomb). The Twins have won two straight from the White Sox while the Tigers have lost three in a row, and Brett Favre is going to remain retired.
LIFE IS GOOD!
Let’s be honest with ourselves about Favre. Did all this hype come from him or didn’t it? Did he “play” on the emotions of the Vikings and their fans, or did they do that to themselves? Obviously, we will never know what was said and done behind the scenes, but all I ever saw/heard for myself was a retired QB who said he was considering a comeback with the Vikes. Was anything more than that ever stated on his part?
Why didn’t the Vikings go after Graham Harrell? Prolific passer, high accuracy, just no bombs…could have got him cheap.
Judd/Chip,
Would you guys consider commenting on any or all of the following…?
- your +90% chance prediction of Favre coming to the Vikes (you don’t get the same slack as weather guys 
),
- what you know about the true feelings of the leadership of the Vikes about Favre’s decision, as we had heard that there was less than a unamimous feeling about the Favre experiment anyway.
- is this really going to be an issue in the locker room regarding confidence in our rostered QB’s?
- can we get Loadholt and Harvin in camp on time?
Vick has been out of football for two years, and wasn’t a very accurate passer when he was in the league. Let’s pass and go with what we have.
Oh and, who cares about the feelings of the players on Favre (the real B. Grant wouldn’t waste his time with player feelings), I have a feeling they have moved on, why don’t we.
Whether Vick would be right for the Vikings is truely for the [horrible] coaching staff to decide. What shouldn’t be part of this decision is his past. Michael Vick took full responsibility for his actions, did his time, and seems genuinely remorseful for what he did. I think he learned his lesson and I seriously doubt he will do anything like it again. Big deal from the PR side of things. Anyone who has issues with Vick will shut up after a few weeks of him being on any team anyway.
The optiminst in me (Bones would call it homerism) hopes that the team gets a chip on its collective shoulder from the media’s reaction (”can the Vikings even make the playoffs now?) and comes together as never before committed to proving the nay-sayers wrong. Sage and/or TJax needs to do the same thing individually.
GagliardiFan - I was hoping Harrell would get a look too. I’m surprised he didn’t catch on anywhere. Seems like we could at least give him a shot to compete with Booty as our project QB.
KFAN just announced that the Vikes signed Loadholt.
Glad to hear The Load has landed. Now that we no longer need $10M in cap room for…what was his name again?…I wonder if Percival’s agent will be even more difficult to negotiate with.
1. Thank God we’re not pursuing another inaccurate, fleet-footed quarterback that would have PETA circling the Dome on Sundays.
2. Dogfighting might be legal in some backwater third world countries, but we happen to live in the United States of America. Vick was born and raised in this country and should be pretty familiar with how our society works and how it views such activities is. There is something mentally wrong with someone who does the things he did. And there is also something seriously wrong with people so obsessed with their favorite sports team that they’re willing to overlook his crimes simply because they want him on said team. Basically what I’m saying is: mnwild27 = moron.
3. I honestly hope we’re beyond the whole “let’s pull together because it’s us against the world” mentality. And if that is the thinking in the locker room, how exactly does putting a chip on the team’s collective shoulder overcome a serious lack of talent at the quarterback position? We still have a career backup that is likely to be beaten out by a never-has-been that was rumored to be demanding a trade if #4 had signed! All of a sudden JDB is looking like a more attractive option than either…
Bones - agree with 1 and 2, and while I agree that an undeniable talent at QB would be much better, the “team dynamics” do matter. I probably should have been more clear that I hope the “us against the world” mentality does more to bring the team together than the risk of “you wanted Favre” pulling them apart.
did you say grab Tebow in the draft????????? So now we are finishing last in the league? Cuz whoever finishes last is taking Tebow…it would be stupid not to do that…we have no shot at him.
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