New Michael Vick (source: Jim Thomas St. Louis Post Dispatch)

[PeoriaRam]

What do we have to lose?

Time-the coaching staff has to evaluate and coach this guy in camp, and our management has to spend time negotiating contracts and/or the trade.

Roster space-a valuable spot that could go to a younger player.

Money-$3.5 million isn't cheap.

Opportunity cost-Bulger, who may be better than Vick, may not stick around for us to learn this. Other FAs may also avoid us.

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There is no free lunch. Everything has costs.

[sosa39rams]

I agree, why not take a shot? We don't have much to lose and yeah he could come in here for a year or two and be a stop gap. Then either this year we draft a QB we can develop under him or draft Jake Locker and work him under Vick (unless he can start right away). I personally don't like Vick, or want him playing here, but if he is the answer to turn this franchise's record around.. GET THE HECK OUT THERE!

[richtree]

Well, we are probably giving 6 million to bulger next season and he won't play a snap for us.....lol

[Bralidore(RAMMODE)]

What do we have to lose?

Time-the coaching staff has to evaluate and coach this guy in camp, and our management has to spend time negotiating contracts and/or the trade.

Roster space-a valuable spot that could go to a younger player.

Money-$3.5 million isn't cheap.

Opportunity cost-Bulger, who may be better than Vick, may not stick around for us to learn this. Other FAs may also avoid us.

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There is no free lunch. Everything has costs.

Hmm i was under the impression with an entire coaching staff, more than one Quarterback can be worked out and watched. And all the days you get in training camp, im sure we can spare some time to have Vick run the offense sometime....

out of a 53 man roster (that is actually around 70 something in training camp) i think we can squeeze out one spot to see what he has if we can have a 35 year old Hollis Thomas use up a spot. that was just a silly statement..

I thought i said that we should work him out, not give the guy a contract..

There's a darn good chance Bulger won't even be here next year and if he is....so what if he gets a little ass-hurt because he has sucked and we want something better..

Why would other FAs avoid us?

The point is man, you have a strong hate for the idea of Vick when in reality its quite possible he can be a viable starting option so we can win sum games next year and appease the silly impatient fans that don't understand the term, rebuilding.

BTW this is all IF Vick gets released, I'm not saying we trade or give up a draft pick for him

[laram0]

This just posted on NFL.com

Sources close to Vick fully anticipate him playing elsewhere in 2010, and say he is intent on being a starter if at all possible. Such opportunities should arise. Clubs to keep a close eye on include Buffalo, St. Louis, Carolina, Oakland and Jacksonville. Those teams are in the market for QB help, and many have struggled to sell tickets and attract attention in recent years, with their smaller-market status.

"IF" our RAMS bring in Michael Vick it certainly will attract attention. The BIG question is would the attention be negative or positive? Obviously if the attention is more negative than positive it won't help ticket sales!

My other question is how would the franchise sell VICK to the most important people, "US" the fans?

[Nick]

I was gonna do that but I do feel Rotoworld is a strong source on its own.

1. I don't know why many people here don't consider it one.

2. Often the link is only a piece of the information of the whole puzzle.

3. The Rotoworld links go to the paper, but often Rotoworld has more news than just what is in the link. Often they put a link to the paper as a reference to their "post" but have more "insider" type of info.

Either way I think this will pry some new news about Vick in the next week or 2.

I believe you're mistaken about the nature of their site.

Rotoworld is a service that collects news from across the country and compiles it on their website, primarily for fantasy sports players so they can keep up to date without having to go all over the web to try and find info about players. I have never seen a Rotoworld player news piece that mentions their own site's sources as the origin of a report. They find a story, then link to that story (or in the case of televised/radio information, they at least mention the journalist/host/show), they provide a short description of the news regarding that player, and then they provide their opinion about it underneath. I've never known the site to have insider sources of their own.

In this case, they cited a Jim Thomas chat as the source for the story, but nothing in the chat says anything about the Rams trading for Thomas. If it was based on something they somehow heard and not the Thomas story, then there's no reason to cite Thomas's chat. Nor is there a reason to specifically say, "Beat writer Jim Thomas believes the Rams are "seriously considering" trading for Michael Vick." Beat writer Jim Thomas never said that in the link they provided, so their news item is simply incorrect.

Rotoworld is a great one-stop shop in terms of keeping up with news around the league, but 99% of the time, it's much better to follow their citation and read the actual article or report for yourself than simply copying and pasting their re-reporting of it. This is one of those instances.

[PeoriaRam]

Hmm i was under the impression with an entire coaching staff, more than one Quarterback can be worked out and watched. And all the days you get in training camp, im sure we can spare some time to have Vick run the offense sometime....

It's still taking somebody's time and effort. Have you ever wondered why teams usually self-cap their training camp QB rosters at 4?

out of a 53 man roster (that is actually around 70 something in training camp) i think we can squeeze out one spot to see what he has if we can have a 35 year old Hollis Thomas use up a spot. that was just a silly statement..

Rather than Thomas, I was thinking in terms of a UFA.

I thought i said that we should work him out, not give the guy a contract..

If we want to do anything more complex than a basic physical, I think Vick's going to want to be a duly compensated part of the Rams organization.

There's a darn good chance Bulger won't even be here next year and if he is....so what if he gets a little ass-hurt because he has sucked and we want something better..

I hate to drag out passing numbers, but....um...why are we discussing Vick again? Ah yes, the nebulous, intangible, and in all likelihood fictitious at age 30 "playmaking" ability.

Why would other FAs avoid us?

Between Null, unnamed 2nd or 3rd Round QB "A", Vick, and possibly Bulger, our roster's kind of crowded vis-a-vis the QB position. They'll go elsewhere.

The point is man, you have a strong hate for the idea of Vick when in reality its quite possible he can be a viable starting option so we can win sum games next year and appease the silly impatient fans that don't understand the term, rebuilding.

I would eat my hat if Michael Vick led this team to more than 6 wins this coming season. We lack the talent to clear 6 wins, and will be unable to amass the talent to do so without the aid of another offseason. The impatient fans can go watch baseball for all I care, because as knowledgeable about baseball that Cardinal Nation is, they are the exact opposite when it comes to football.

[Goldenfleece]

If the Rams wanted Vick, why wouldn't they have signed him before he ever joined the Eagles? With the Devaney connection and a better chance to start during the season, we probably could have gotten him if we wanted him. As I recall, the team didn't even have him come out for a workout. When is this thing going to die?

[Bralidore(RAMMODE)]

Im getting tired of debunking arguments..

For Goldfleece, would you have taken Vick after thinking Bulger was still the guy and the hot press that followed Vick to his showers when he came back....

And for PeoRam, You dont have to pass for 3000 yards to help a team win games. You just have to make plays, numerous ways you can do that. I dont care how it gets doen we just need wins. Vick can make an epic handoff for all i care.

If a FA QB is intimidated by our current roster of QBs why the hell are we considering him anyway?

And if the QB roster will be 4 that is Null, perhaps a draftee, probably not Bulger, and....who? And thats not saying you HAVE to cap your roster at 4.

I'm not a Vick jock rider by any stretch, I just believe in trying every angle and the fact is the Falcons won a lot of games because of Vick, good thing is...Devaney and Spags seem to be that type as well. We'll see what happens. Us bickering won't sway anyone one way or the other.

[Goldenfleece]

Im getting tired of debunking arguments..

For Goldfleece, would you have taken Vick after thinking Bulger was still the guy and the hot press that followed Vick to his showers when he came back....

Not then, not now. I don't think he'd have the locker room or the fan base. Forget the dog fighting, this is the same guy who flipped off his fans in Atlanta and passed on an STD that he deliberately hid from his partner. And he barely completes half his passes anyway. His career QB rating of 75.9 would have put him roughly in the bottom third of starting quarterbacks last season--slightly better than Chad Henne but worse than guys like Vince Young and Alex Smith.

[Varg6]

And if the QB roster will be 4 that is Null, perhaps a draftee, probably not Bulger, and....who? And thats not saying you HAVE to cap your roster at 4.

Seriously.

[PeoriaRam]

And for PeoRam, You dont have to pass for 3000 yards to help a team win games. You just have to make plays, numerous ways you can do that. I dont care how it gets doen we just need wins. Vick can make an epic handoff for all i care.

And I strongly question his ability to still do that after 3 years away from being a regular starter and with him hitting the 30 year old speed bump that strikes EVERYONE.

If a FA QB is intimidated by our current roster of QBs why the hell are we considering him anyway?

It's not a question of intimidation, so much as it is a recognition that the team has already made its decision regarding QBs for 2010. We aren't cutting Null, we sure as hell aren't cutting nameless QB "A", and we likely aren't cutting both Vick and Bulger. That's 3 QBs-most NFL teams don't go into a season with 4.

And if the QB roster will be 4 that is Null, perhaps a draftee, probably not Bulger, and....who? And thats not saying you HAVE to cap your roster at 4.

No, but at a certain point you have to look at 21 other positions, all of which have to fit into that same roster. You want wideouts, right?

I'm not a Vick jock rider by any stretch, I just believe in trying every angle and the fact is the Falcons won a lot of games because of Vick, good thing is...Devaney and Spags seem to be that type as well. We'll see what happens. Us bickering won't sway anyone one way or the other.

And the Vikings won a lot of games with Daunte Culpepper. Let's bring him in. Trent Dilfer-there's a winner for you; give him a shot. Shoot, let's talk Warren Moon out of retirement. Hold a seance for Johnny Unitas.

[Bald_81]

Jason LaConfora (NFLN) speculates that Vick could be had for a conditional 6th or 7th rounder. I have never been a Vick fan, but at that price I think it's worth a shot. Devaney visited Vick while he was in prison, so there is obviously a genuine connection there. It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the coming months.

[Nick]

Jason LaConfora (NFLN) speculates that Vick could be had for a conditional 6th or 7th rounder. I have never been a Vick fan, but at that price I think it's worth a shot. Devaney visited Vick while he was in prison, so there is obviously a genuine connection there. It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the coming months.

I wouldn't be shocked if the Rams pulled the trigger on that. Disappointed, yes. But not shocked. Furthermore, I really think that, if the Rams add Vick to this roster, all this talk about the Four Pillars and character being so important becomes just a lot of hot air. You can say what you want about the guy being reformed, and second chances are great. But you can't take rookies off of your draft board for drug related incidents or felony convictions only to turn around and sign Michael Vick. And my aversion to Vick really doesn't have much to do with his off-the-field issues, but I just don't see how they reconcile those things if they do in fact acquire Vick.

[PeoriaRam]

I wouldn't be shocked if the Rams pulled the trigger on that. Disappointed, yes. But not shocked. Furthermore, I really think that, if the Rams add Vick to this roster, all this talk about the Four Pillars and character being so important becomes just a lot of hot air. You can say what you want about the guy being reformed, and second chances are great. But you can't take rookies off of your draft board for drug related incidents or felony convictions only to turn around and sign Michael Vick. And my aversion to Vick really doesn't have much to do with his off-the-field issues, but I just don't see how they reconcile those things if they do in fact acquire Vick.

I would also like to see the "the Rams need a LEADER at QB" meme put to an end immediately. Because folks who get justifiably nicknamed "Coach Killer", flip the bird at fans, refuse to learn the playbook, and try to win by improvising are not "leaders".