As expected, the Tennessee Titans released former number three overall pick Vince Young today, making him an unrestricted free agent. Speculation is now about where he could possibly end up. According to ESPN, he is "eyeing" the Eagles as a potential destination.
One person who knows Young said he’s equally intrigued with the idea of learning from Vick, Eagles coach Andy Reid and offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg, who have done a first-rate job of training quarterbacks.
And there’s a chance that the interest could be mutual. According to Chris Mortenson, the Eagles and Dolphins are the two teams that have done the most background work on Young this summer. The Eagles are of course in need of a capable backup now that they’ve traded Kevin Kolb.
Young is a bit of enigma as he’s been dogged by questions about his attitude, work ethic and leadership ability his whole career. Despite that, he’s compiled a pretty impressive 30-18 record as a starter. Contrast that with Kevin Kolb, who has a 3-4 mark in the games he’s started and fetched a major ransom for the Eagles as well as new $63 million contract.
Take it a step further. Here is his 2010 stat line. 1,255 yards, 10 TDs, 3 INTs, 98.6 QB rating… and he was just cut for nothing. His career stats are a bit more telling. He’s completed less than 60% of his passes and he’s thrown as many INTs as TDs (42). He’s also had his share of injury issues. That said, he has rushed for almost 1,400 yards and TDs in his career as well.
But if the Eagles learned anything from the Michael Vick experiment, it’s that sometimes taking a flyer on a guy can pay off in a big way. Think of what signing Vick allowed them to do. It paved the way for them to trade both Donovan McNabb and Kevin Kolb for what ended up being Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, two second round picks and two fourth round picks(the team turned the 4th from the McNabb trade into an extra fourth). That trade produced at least two starters already with DRC and Nate Allen, with another certainly likely with next year’s second round pick. So with Vince Young, you at least get a guy who has shown he can win games in the NFL, but at best you could get another major asset or potentially a replacement for Vick if something goes wrong.
And at this point, you have to trust the Andy Reid/Marty Mornhinweg combo to work with quarterbacks.