big al

........for saving the Chargers franchise. A column in the SD papers said
that if the Falcons didn't include Tim Dwight in the 2001 deal in which the
Chargers traded the #1 pick (Vick) for the #5 pick (LT), the Chargers would
have drafted Vick and all this shit would be our headache. On the flip side,
LT could have been in your backfield and Drew Brees your QB.

If the Falcons wanted to cut Vick, I would hope a deal could be reached with
the NFL to lessen the cap hit. Then you can sign Culpepper, **** it up this
year and have a high first rounder and 2 high 2nd rounders to rebuild with
(don't kid yourself, Houston will **** this year). If the Chargers can
recover from the disaster that was Ryan Leaf, you guys can overcome this.
Good luck.

donald grumpsnail

Thanks for the support. It's tough being a Falcon's fan these days.
Surprisingly enough, if you remove the whole Vick mess, this has been
a great off-season for the falcons. Petrino appears to be a real
hard-ass (needed after the wimp Mora almost ruined the team). I
couldn't believe we got Blalock and Houston in the 2nd. Laurent
Robinson is impressing everyone (Maybe Hue Jackson can teach the other
relievers to catch the ball). Zimmer's another hard-ass who will whip
the defense into shape. Jimmy Williams is finally at safety (I think
his natural position). Jerious Norwood's looking to have a breakout
year. Still, I don't want to see Vick in a Falcon's uniform again
until he has his day in court and is absolved of all guilt. If he's
guilty of any of the charges I hope he rots in jail.

paulmofatl

I think the NFL should institute an amnesty for thugs in a situation
like this. I am sure the teams do background and character checks on
players before drafting them, but who could have forseen this.

Teams should be able to sever ties cleanly with no cap hit in
situations like this. The amount of money the Falcons would be on
the hook for is ridiculous. I do recall thinking that the contract
Vick signed in 2004 was a bit too much at the time.

rãvnsfãn ®

There apparently is an NFL amnesty program for thugs available in Cincinnati
.... just kidding.

Every team takes the same risks and must accept the consequence(s) of the
choice(s) they made just as they accept and embrace the successes so I for
one wouldn't be in favor of the NFL offering to assist the Falcons or any
NFL team in getting out from under the contract agreement it performed with
a player.

Some team was inevitably going to suffer this sort of a predicament and
associated financial loss. Selfishly... but honestly, I'll state better
Atlanta than B'more. Now let's see if the NFL and it's owners learn anything
from this most recent episode of... "How the NFL Turns" ...(my stomach).

Drew
--
RävNsfän ®

"Talk is cheap..., lets go play"
(Johnny Unitas - Baltimore Colts)

big al

Timing is everything Drew. If Goodell had been commissioner in 1999-00, do
you think Ray Lewis would have taken the field during your championship
season?

While I agree that the NFL should not help the Falcons or any other team
under these types of circunstances out *financially*, the Falcons, if what I
read somewhere is correct will take a cap hit of $6 million this year and
$15 million in 2008 if they cut Vick immediately (no, I don't have a link
and yes, I am too lazy to look it up so if my numbers are wrong, so be it).
That would be too steep of a price for the team to pay if they were to do
the right thing and cut Vick's ass immediately, especially for 2008. Having
to deal with huge salary cap ramifications for 2 years will probably
discourage the Falcons from cutting Vick.

So what will end up happening is instead of the Falcons and the NFL sending
a message loud and clear that this will not be tolerated, the Falcons will
probably not cut Vick and hope Goodell does their dirty work for them and
gives him a long suspension. Goodell suddenly remembers words like "due
process" that he forgot in the Pacman Jones case so the NFL will end up
looking like they are tough on lesser players messing up but seem to forget
their principles and values when it is a legit star that gets in trouble,
particularly one that has salary cap ramifications. I just don't think it
would be fair to the Falcons to have enforced ****itude for two years for
doing the right thing due to the massive cap hit in '08 (this year is shot
anyway so let them deal with this years hit). That is why I would like to
give them some cap relief in '08 so they can sign some players and try to
overcome this.

As for Ray Lewis, I do have to give him props for turning his life around.
Too bad he is the exception. I won't hold my breath for Michael Vick to turn
his life around in a similar manner.

rãvnsfãn ®

Hello Big Al... certainly good to hear from you again.

I don't know. Has anyone ever been suspended for an entire season on a
misdemeanor conviction? I don't think so.

Additionally I would offer that it isn't timing at all... but the times
themselves (as well as the cir***stances) that dictate such things. If
Goodell was indeed commissioner at that time what red flags equaled what has
been taking place in the NFL thusfar during his tenor and immediately prior
that would have dictated that sort of an action for a misdemeanor
conviction? Mitigating issue is that Ray's charge and case was not federal
and the cir***stances surrounding the prosecution were seedy enough taking
place during a local election process involving both the Police Commissioner
and the prosecuting States Attorney who handled the case himself.

From 1999-2000 or before we didn't have 9 players from a single team jailed
in a 7 month period, players toting guns shooting guns and getting shot to
death plus other atrocious activities and behaviors in the quantity we are
experiencing of late. The bottom line however is if Ray Lewis was suspended
that is what it would have had to be. It wasn't so moot point really. Jamal
Lewis with a federal rap would have been a better comparison to Vick's
situation. He not only served a suspension but jail time as well.


And by helping the Falcons this way the NFL sets a precedent which would
allow for any and every NFL team to be bailed out from their business
decisions. The execs at Enron would have loved that.


As I said it sets a bad precedent. I didn't agree with the Chrysler bail
out, wouldn't have agreed with a bail out of Enron and won't agree with a
bail out on behalf of the Falcons. They made a bad business decision and
like any business must live with the pitfalls of same. Certainly the Falcons
or any team could include a clause to protect themselves in some manner from
this sort of financial hit... but then they wouldn't be signing talents like
Mike Vick. It is part of the game.. err... I mean business.


When and if he does it won't be while playing in the NFL.

Drew
--
RävNsfän ®

"Talk is cheap..., lets go play"
(Johnny Unitas - Baltimore Colts)

head shot

Tampa Bay fans have been thanking us for hiring McKay since the day
it happened. It took Tampa years to come out from under the huge debt
that McKay left as his legacy. Now of course Tampa is a solid team.
Our Falcons won't win 6 games this year with Joey at the helm; with
Vick and Finneran home drinking beer and laughing about getting paid
for nothing.