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Ask yourself this question: If Tom Brady or Peyton Manning were in the exact same situation Michael Vick finds himself in -- trying to come back from a two-year layoff, a prison sentence, a tarnished image and being guilty in the toughest court of all, the court of public opinion -- would they be signed by an NFL team right now?

Several NFL personnel people, coaches and players I polled with that question over the past couple of weeks all had the same answer that you probably do.

Absolutely.

"It would take an hour for them to get a job," said one NFL general manager.
• Panthers coach doesn't rule out Vick

So as Vick remains unsigned in his attempt to return to the NFL, the biggest issue isn't the off-the-field stuff, it's what he is on the football field. It's the ability, or lack of, to play quarterback the way teams want it played, which is to scan the field, make reads and find open receivers.

Too many people are getting caught up in the off-the-field issues when asking why Vick isn't signed. This isn't about that.

It's football, pure and simple.

I have a theory that if a felon such as O.J. Simpson was to get released on a Thursday and he could help a team on Sunday, he'd be signed. Players don't care who's in the locker next to him, as long as he shows up and works and helps them win -- and make more money. Coaches rarely care either, as long as the players can help -- and make them more money.

Didn't Jimmy Johnson turn a blind eye to the wild ways of the Dallas Cowboys and their alleged weekly orgies and drug-den sessions because he needed many of those players who were involved? Didn't Bill Parcells go from a coach with questionable talent to an NFL icon in large part because he let Lawrence Taylor run wild? Correct me if I'm wrong, but Johnson and Parcells will go to the Hall of Fame and made millions thanks to their double-standard rules on discipline as it pertained to their stars?

If you can help, the rules change. It is harder now to let players skate by with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell's tougher stance on off-the-field issues, but coaches want to win and they bend rules to help them do so.

So the idea that Vick would bring the circus to town -- which he would for a while with the PETA protests and the media swarm -- is the reason he's not signed is misguided.

Teams are taking a pass because he can't pass.

"He was never that," said one NFL coach. "You had to prepare for him in different ways because he could do things with his legs, but being two years removed you have to wonder if he can do that the same way. As a passer, he wasn't very good."

That's being kind. He was terrible from an accuracy standpoint. Vick has a 53.8 completion percentage for his career. For reference sake, that's worse than such storied passers as Rex Grossman (54.2), Joey Harrington (56.1) and Patrick Ramsey (56.0).

Accuracy is vital in the current NFL, and Vick has none. Before you go throwing out some of the quarterbacks in his accuracy area code who are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, just remember it's a different game now.

Yes, Johnny Unitas had a career completion percentage of 54.6, but the passing game back then wasn't the dink-and-dunk kind of today. The ball went down the field. That's why players like Unitas and Norm Van Brocklin (53.6) have completion percentages so low. Their high yards-per-attempt numbers indicate passers who threw it deep, passers who took chances and made big plays but also threw incomplete passes.

That's not the case with Vick. His per-attempt average is only 6.7 yards. He simply isn't, or hasn't been, a good passer.

Some will wonder why. He has a strong arm and he's mobile enough to evade rushers and make plays through the air, pulling up after a scramble to make a big throw.

The answer is easy. This was Mike Vick's passing progressions in Atlanta: Look outside to a receiver first, then check down to Alge Crumpler and then run. He didn't run to throw, but ran to run.

Vick was the Wildcat before the Wildcat, or the single wing after the single wing.

That's why teams aren't lining up to sign him.

Goodell conditionally reinstated Vick almost a month ago after serving his 23-month sentence for his role in dog fighting. At the time, the thinking was teams would line up to sign him.

But here we are in the first full week of the preseason and Vick doesn't have a home. We keep hearing how five teams are interested, but one by one, teams check themselves off the list.

Tony Dungy has vouched for him as a changed man, which has to help the cause. The problem is Dungy can't vouch for him as a changed quarterback.

One team executive said he thought Vick would sign after training camps close in large part to avoid a circus. Camp practices are usually open to the public, so the picketers would be able to watch practice and voice their opinions.

When practices are closed, they'd be relegated to picketing in front of a team's facility.

Big difference.

"That could be what's holding it up," the executive said. "But it could be football, too."

The United Football League's Orlando Tuskers would seem to be his best option. He could make $1.5 million for six games, could show the world that he can still do some of those amazing things he did with the Falcons with his leg or has evolved as a passer, and then sign with an NFL team after that.

The problem is that Vick's agent is telling people he wants no part of that league in large part because if he fails there he'll never get back to the NFL.

If he's worried about that, Vick won't have a chance in the NFL anyway. Vick needs to play. He needs to show he's evolved as a man, but, more importantly, as a quarterback.

Aug. 13, 2009
By Pete Prisco
CBSSports.com Senior Writer
Image isn't Vick's problem, it's a passing thing - NFL - CBSSports.com Football

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