The Philadelphia Eagles announced today that they've signed QB Michael Vick to a new six year $100 million deal, making it official that Vick is their QB of the present and future. Vick was slated to play under the franchise tag this year which meant he was going to count $16.2 million against the cap. That figure has been lowered to $14.4 mil under the new deal. The contract also includes $40 million in guarantees.
"I'm very happy we were able to reach an agreement with Michael on this long-term contract," said Andy Reid. "It's a product of all the hard work Michael has done to better himself over the last couple of years, both on and off the field. I'm very proud that he has been able to achieve success again in this league, but he'll be the first one to tell you that there is a lot of work yet to be done by him and this team as a whole. And there's no doubt in my mind that he will continue on that path. I give a lot of credit to Joe Banner and Joel Segal for getting this deal done."
It would appear that all the of the money problems that Vick was still dealing with in the wake of his bankruptcy are pretty much gone now... Vick's 6 year $100 million deal is comparable to the five year, $90 million deal Peyton Manning signed earlier this offseason. Manning is a little over four years older than Vick his deal averages more per year, but clearly it would seem that the Manning deal set the market for elite QBs.
The move means the Eagles are truly all in on Vick as their QB going forward. Not only did they trade Kevin Kolb, who would have been their safety net as a QB of the future, but now with this deal they've locked themselves in financially to #7. There's certainly a chance that there is some funny money backloaded at the end of the deal to inflate the final number a bit, but with $40 million in guarantees, the team is clearly locked into Vick for the long term and vice versa.